A New Horizon
by Dimitar
Summary: Beck, Tori and Jade receive a wonderful opportunity to further their acting aspirations. With Beck and Jade's break up still fresh and Jade's hostile attitude towards Tori still what it is, will they be able to work together.
1. Opportunity

**A New Horizon**

Beck hopped out of his car and got in school. The school halls looked as they always did but somehow it all felt off. He shook his head, trying to chase off the melancholy creeping on him. He has been like that for weeks now. None of the distractions he tried had worked for long. Beck knew the reason of course but there wasn't anything he could do about it. While he was at his locker, André came by carrying large keyboard under his arm.

"Hey man, ready for another great day." He greeted him with a smile. Beck just raised his eyebrow. His friend seemed awfully chipper today.

"What are you so happy about so early in the morning?" Beck didn't mean to sound so harsh, but on top of everything else he hadn't had his mourning coffee and the only person's morning cheeriness he could stand was probably Cat's. And only thanks to the force of habit.

"Why wouldn't I be? The sun is shining, the birds are singing and I am making a new song." André replied unperturbed by his friend's uncharacteristically bad mood. "The question should be why you are grouchy." He didn't like it when his usually cool and laid back friend was in such a mood, but lately it's been happening a lot.

"I don't know I just am." Beck shrugged off the question.

"Is it because our pretty but scary friend?" Beck tried to mutter something vague but his eyes traitorously flicked toward his ex's locker. André caught that and shook his head. "If you miss her so much why don't you try getting back together with her?" He couldn't understand why Beck and Jade had to make things so complicated. For him it seemed simple. You like a girl – you ask her out. If she says no, you move on and possibly write a song about it. If she says yes, you go out, have a good time and you write a song about that.

"It's complicated." Beck said after a while. He loved André like a brother but in this case he was next to useless. His relationships lasted a week or two at most. The longest he had seen him mourn the end on any of them was day and a half.

"Yes, yes I know – 'you love her but you can't stand her'." André had heard that explanation several times already. It didn't make sense to him. How could you love and can't stand someone at the same time.

"Yes that's right, but don't tell anyone. I don't want people to know and gossip about it." Beck didn't want this to reach Jade. He didn't know how she would react, but he was willing to bet it wouldn't be pretty. André nodded reassuringly.

"Okay, I won't. Now let's get to class. I heard Sikowitz might be on time today." Beck reacted to this with a mild interest. Sikowitz was never on time, at least not for the first period. They reached Sikowitz's class just in time. Once there Beck was faced with a bit of a conundrum. Usually he would sit next to Jade but now that was out of the question. As it turned out their classmates were already here, so the only free seats were one next to Tori and one next to Jade. Before the break up he would have sat next to Jade without hesitation, but now whenever they ended up together she either glared at him or demonstratively ignored him. He didn't want to sit next to Jade but sitting next to Tori wasn't a good idea either. While he hesitated André made the decision for him by sitting next to Jade. At that moment Sikowitz came in and Beck had no other chose but to sit next to Tori. He cold literary feel Jade's eyes burning holes in his back. The class went as usual and he was beginning to wander why did Sikowitz came on time when half an hour before the bell their crazy teacher let them go.

"You may all go now." He dismissed the class. Just as Beck picked up his back and headed to the door Sikowitz called back. "Beck, Tori and Jade you stay back." The three exchanged puzzled looks, as they sat back down.

"Alright children I have a proposition for you." Their teacher began with an exited twinkle in his eye. Then he just stopped and just stood there with a grin on his face.

"What proposition?" Tori asked apprehensively while the other two exchanged bewildered looks. With Sikowitz you could never be sure.

"My acquaintance is producing a new show for one of the smaller networks. They have already cast their main characters. But they need to mind their budget so since they can't shoot it in Canada, due to the subject, they've decided to save money by hiring students from local art schools for the secondary roles." The trio listened with increasing interest. A real TV show, it sounded so exiting, and unlike 'The Wood' it was going to have scripts, sets and everything.

"So this is going to be national?" Jade finally asked, just to be sure. Beck could see Tori next to him almost giddy with excitement.

"Yes, are you interested?" Their teacher confirmed. The trio just looked at each other and nodded enthusiastically in response.

"Excellent, here is the address where the casting will be held. Good luck." With that he gave them a piece of paper with an address and a phone number and hurriedly left the room through the window. Beck held the piece of paper and looked at the two girls. As excited as he was about this great opportunity he couldn't help but wonder how he and Jade or for that matter her and Tori would work together. It was true that at the moment, paradoxically Jade seemed to get along better with Tori than with him, but considering they had just broken up that wasn't saying much. Still this opportunity was so tempting.

**A.N. This is the first chapter of my new multi-chapter story that I hope to update often and for a long time. Reviews, suggestions and critiques are more than welcome.**


	2. Audition I

**Audition I**

Beck parked his car in front of Vega's house. It was Saturday morning and as agreed he was picking her up for the audition. Before he even had the time to press the horn Tori flew out of the front door. But it wasn't eagerness to get to the audition that was hurrying her, it was her sister Trina.

"Go, go!" She urged him after she jumped in his convertible. He stepped on the gas and the car peeled off. In his rearview mirror he could see Trina yelling after them.

"Why was she chasing after you?" He asked the flushed from running Tori. "The casting director disqualified her ten seconds after she snuck in the first audition. Doesn't she know that this is a call back?" Absentmindedly he observed that the blush made Tori's cheeks even prettier than usual. Automatically he castigated himself for the thought. Then he remembered he was single now and it was okay to have such thoughts.

"She does, but it's Trina – she doesn't care." Tori replied unaware about what was going through his mind. "Where is Jade?" She asked after she had time to look around.

"We are on the way to pick her up." The a little too careless answer came.

"Isn't her house on your way to mine?" He could feel the suspicion in her voice.

"It is, but I didn't want to be alone with her." His answer came after several silent seconds, without his eye leaving the road. "Every time we do we end up screaming at each other." He could feel her face melting into supportive smile.

"So she is still pissed at you for the breakup?" Tori asked after a while. He just nodded.

"How are you doing with it?" She knew that these days Beck and Jade were mostly ignoring each other. It was an improvement over the constant bickering before that, but she could see that Beck was taking it bad.

"It's… difficult." He admitted. It was also something he wasn't yet ready to talk about.

"If you feel like talking about it sometime I'm ready to listen." The funny thing was that Tori was probably the best to talk to about his break up out of all his friends. They reached Jade's house. She was waiting impatiently in front of the house. She looked pretty good in her black skirt and dark blue top, he thought with a sigh.

"You are late." These were her first words to him after he pulled up.

"We have time." He replied calmly, but he could feel the irritation rising inside him. Jade walked to the front passenger door.

"Vega, go in the back seat." She gestured the slim brunette to move. Tori moved to unbuckle her seatbelt.

"No Tori stay." Beck stopped her. "You climb in the back." He told Jade, refusing to meet her gaze. She glared murderously but climbed in the back of his car. The rest of the trip went on in silence which Tori tried unsuccessfully to break. All she could get were monosyllabic answers from Beck and death glares from Jade so she gave up. The three reached the small but stylish office building where the call back audition was going to be held. Although they were actually early all the other candidates were already there. Two dozen teenagers were sitting or nervously pacing in expectation of the start. Beck, Tori and Jade soon got into their own routines of coping with the stress. Tori turned out to be a pacer; Jade, in absence of scissors, began picking out the petals of the flowers in a nearby vase, much to the displeasure of the receptionist; only Beck managed to hide his angst under a cool and relaxed mask. Finally it began. One by one the nervous teens went behind the unassuming office door and after ten to twenty minutes came back with expressions of triumph or defeat. Tori got tired of pacing back and forth and plopped herself in a seat next to Beck.

"So, what do you think about the stars of this, hopefully soon our show?" She asked in the voice of someone who was trying to distract herself.

"I don't know. The females are more famous than the males, but I guess it normal for this kind of shows." He remembered seeing them on the TV in couple of shows but he hadn't connected the names with the faces until later.

"I don't even know what I'm doing here. You and Jade have much more experience." Tori's nervousness had turned into doubt.

"It is only in school theater. TV is very different so it doesn't matter that much." He tried to reassure her. "Don't worry, you'll do just fine." He wondered how sometimes she could be so confident when singing on stage, but every new stage in acting made her insecure. Beck watched her go through the door. Minutes slowly ticked away – ten, twenty and thirty until Tori got out with a dazed smile on her lips.

"I got it! I got it!" She ran back to her friends. "I'm going to be Jenny." Her pure excitement was so infectious that Beck forgot for minute his own worry.

"Who was that?" Jade asked caught up in the excitement of the moment.

"She is the shy girl who befriends Britt Robertson's character." Tori's pleased response came.

"That's a good role. She'll probably have a lot of scenes." He wasn't just saying that. It was a type of character writers loved to develop, especially if a pretty girl like Tori was cast in it. Next came Jade's turn. She came back only after ten minutes. There didn't seem to be any of Tory's excitement in her.

"Jade, did you get a part?" Beck asked with concern. "Jade?" Tori asked gently touching the silent brunette.

"Yes, I got a part." Jade's chocked voice finally came.

"Which one did you get?" Tori enquired puzzled by Jade odd behavior.

"I'm going to be a cheerleader. Me!" Beck stifled a chuckle. Tori's smile just grew wider.

"Which cheerleader are you going to be?" Tori asked, trying to sound nonchalantly.

"I'm going to be the happy, preppy one." Jade sounded so appalled by the mere notion that Beck and Tori could no longer hold back their laugh. "It's not funny. The whole school is going to laugh in my face." Jade glared at them.

"Oh, come on they are too afraid of you to do it in your face." Tori's reassurance didn't seem to have effect on Jade. Before they could continue the receptionist called the next name.

"Beck Oliver." Beck froze for a second and then deaf for Tori's good luck wishes he took the few stops to the door and with a final deep breathy opened it.

**A.N. Reviews, suggestions and critiques are more than welcome.**


	3. Audition II

**A.N. Yes, there will be ships but I will take my time with them. No, none is getting pregnant, shot or stabbed. IMHO you have to be extra stupid to get pregnant in high school in this day and age. By the way don't pay too much attention to the actors I've cast as the stars of the show. Their role in the story will be minimal.**

**Audition II**

Beck stepped into the room. It looked like any other audition room. There was an empty space at the front for the candidate and a row of chairs for the casting director and his assistants. This time however there were much more people there. He could see Sikowitz's friend - the producer of the show, next to him were two of the writers and various people involved with the show. His attention however was attracted by two of the show's stars sitting by the producer. He remembered the guy from a show he used to watch on Nick in his early teens, obviously he was trying to make a comeback. Next to him was a short pretty blonde who Beck definitely remembered from her previous shows on TV and from one horror move Jade had dragged him to – Britt Robertson.

"Alright Beck, you'll two read troughs with Matthew and with Britt to see if you are right for the role of the surfing buddy of Matthew's character." Beck nodded and took his place. He knew they were considering him for the part. The scene with Matthew went easily. Beck's laid back attitude meshed well with Matthew's character's cocky one. At the end of the scene both the producer and the writers seemed pleased. Next was a scene with Britt. Beck scanned the script quickly and took his place. Britt made a few brisk steps and plowed right into him with enough force to make him stumble.

"Watch where you go!" Her angry outburst came. Beck steadied himself and gave her a lazy, amused smile.

"Hey girl you are the one who crashed into me." She looked back at him as if seeing him just now.

"Oh right, I'm sorry." She apologized smiling embarrassed. Her head turned back off stage as she continued. "I was trying to get away from that ass."

"Oh him, that's just the way he is." Beck told her with an easy shrug after he followed her gaze.

"Does he really think this is the way to impress a girl?" She asked him incredulously, her eyes never wavering.

"I don't know. You tell me." Beck replied with amusement. "You are the one who can't take her eyes off of him." Her blond head whipped back to face him; expression of outrage was clear on her face.

"And scene." The producer called out. The producer and the writers spoke with each other in hushed whispers for a few minutes that seemed like hours to Beck. Than the producer congratulated him and told him that he got the role. Beck was so happy that latter for the life of him he couldn't remember how he got from thanking the producer and the casting director to being outside, telling the good news to Tori and Jade.

"Congratulations Beck, you did it." Tori greeted his news with a hug. "We all did it." She gave him a nice big kiss on the cheek. That earned her a mild death glare from Jade. She relented after Tori pulled her in a group hug.

"Vega, you are such a sap." Jade grumbled but Beck observed that she wasn't trying too hard to get out of it.

**A.N. Reviews, suggestions and critiques are more than welcome.**


	4. The Truce

**A.N. I'm very sorry for the long delay and the shortness of my previous chapter but I had computer problems.**

**The Truce**

Beck was just putting his books away in his locker when Tori came up to him. She looked in a good mood, or to be more precise an even better than usual mood.

"Did you get your script?" She asked him with a barely repressed grin on her face.

"Yes I did." He couldn't help but smile in return, her enthusiasm was so infectious.

"This is so exiting! It's my first TV script." She was clutching the rolled up pages like they were one of the science fair prices she had gotten in middle school. "Listen, I know this may sound silly, but what would you say if you, me and Jade, if she agrees, get later together at my house to do a first rehearsal." Tori finished with her bright disarming smile. Beck could feel a trap behind that smile but he wasn't sure what it was. He just knew he wasn't going to like it.

"I'm not sure. You know what happened these days when I and Jade are together for more than half an hour." He tried to dissuade her.

"I'm sure she is as excited as we are." Tori was trying to sound convincing but Beck wasn't buying it. "That should keep you two civil." As much as he was sure that an afternoon with Tori was going to be fun, an afternoon with him, Tori and Jade alone together was more like a recipe for disaster.

"I don't know Tori." He made one last attempt to discourage her.

"Come on, please come. Please, for me." She grabbed his hand and lightly shook it, giving him at the same time her best pleading look. He knew the fight was lost.

"Okay I'll come." Beck gave in with an exaggerated sigh. Tori just laughed and gave him a hug. One of the few good things that in Beck's opinion had come out of his brake up with Jade was that now he could enjoy Tori's physical expressions of joy without feeling guilty about it. Tori walked off to her locker while Beck headed to his next class. On the way there André caught up with him.

"You seem in a better mood. What's up?" He asked Beck. His friend just shrugged in return and waved the script sticking out of his backpack.

"Nothing much, we got the scripts for the pilot episode of the show." Andre nodded and smiled.

"Oh right, you are a TV star now." He teased his friend. He knew Beck liked to think of himself as a serious actor, but with his face a heartthrob was more likely path.

"Oh yeah, I'm a big star alright. I'm going to have a supporting role every other episode on a small network teen show." Beck tried to be dismissive but André could tell his friend was really excited about the show.

"Do you have plans for the afternoon? We can go hang somewhere." To be honest André was hoping to kill two birds with one stone. He wanted to hang out with his best friend and to use him lure girls. Beck was in that sweet spot where he was single but not yet ready to date, which made him a perfect girl-bate.

"I would love to man but I already promised Tori to go to her house." Beck replied with apologetic smile.

"So that's why you're in a good mood." Andre's smirk became teasing. He had observed that one of the few things that were guaranteed to get Beck out of the funks he was prone to after his break up with Jade, was their ravishing friend Tori Vega.

"It's not like that. Jade will be there too." Beck protested after seeing his smirk. Andre just winced at the thought of that trio together alone. " I think Tori wants to broker a peace between us so we could work well together on the show."

"Oh, I'm sure that's the only reason Tori wants you and Jade to get along." Andre remarked pointedly.

"What else could it be?" Instead of answering André just shrugged and set at his place. In his opinion sometimes Beck could be surprisingly naïve.

Later that day Beck found himself knocking on Tori's door. He was actually early, so when he came in Tori was still busy with homework. She let him and asked him to wait until she finished up the page she was writing. He sat on the sofa and after a while found himself looking at the sitting Tori. She was so focused on her writing that the pink tip of her tongue had stuck out between her ruby lips and her reading glasses had slid down her thin nose. It hit Beck that even now, dressed in old comfy slacks and a oversized t-shirt Tori still managed to look hot. Before he would castigate himself for such thoughts, but now he was single and the only thing bothering him was not to get caught ogling his friend.

"What are you looking at?" Her voice yanked him back to reality. He franticly tried to come up with excuse for his stare. "Do I have ink on my face?" Tori worriedly tried to see her face in a big spoon lying on the table.

"No, no, you don't have anything. My mind just wandered off for a moment." Beck quickly calmed her, relieved that she didn't suspect the real reason for his stare. Tori closed her books and got up.

"I'm sure that one of the main reasons for your wandering mind will come soon." She told him with a wink. "I'm going to go upstairs and put on something more presentable." She headed for the stairs.

"Oh, so Jade gets presentable and I get old slacks and a t-shirt." Beck exclaimed in mock offense. She grinned in response.

"It's your own fault. You came early. If you had come on time you would have seen me in my entire splendor." With that Tori disappeared up the stairs. While he was waiting for her the doorbell rang. When he opened the door he faced Jade. She was as pretty and as dour as ever. He hated that feeling of yearning and irritation he got every time she was near him.

"Well aren't you going to let me in?" Jade tersely asked him after they stared at each other for several seconds. He took a step back and let her in. "Where is Vega?" the question came after she looked around and didn't see the infuriating brunette.

"She is upstairs, changing." Beck told her offhandedly, plopping down on the couch.

"Why did she have to change?" Jade's questioned with suspicion. Beck could see in her sapphire eyes how she was coming up with scenarios, one more nefarious then the other. He knew her paranoid mind well enough. But what has been endearing year and a half ago was now was now just maddening.

"Because while we were waiting for you our undeniable attraction got the better of us, I ripped up her clothes and we had mad, passionate sex right here on the couch." His tone was so deadpan and his eyes so calm that for a briefest moment she believed him.

"What!" the moment the angry cry came out of her mouth she regretted it. She knew he was just toying with her and she resented him for the power he still held over her. Jade hated giving him the satisfaction but the thought of Beck with another girl, especially Tori, still drove her absolutely mad.

"Relax; she was in an old t-shirt so she decided to put on something more presentable." Jade gave him a withering glance.

"You just love to push my buttons and piss me off, don't you?" She sat opposite of him. They spent the next minutes in uncomfortable silence. That's how Tori found them when she came back down.

"Hey Jade, you came." She said sounding forcefully cheerful, trying to break the icy mood in the room. Beck could not help but notice how her tight jeans accentuated her long slim legs. They sat down and began reading the script, but Jade soon grew tired of it.

"Come on Vega; tell us why you really invited us here." She said flipping the pages closed. "Don't tell us it's to rehearse scenes from the show. We barely have any scenes together and in the ones that we have our characters don't talk to each other." She leaned back, staring inquisitorially at Tori.

"We could still rehearse each reading his lines with the other two reading the lines of the other characters." The slim brunette replied defensively at first. "But you're right Jade; I invited you two here with something else in mind too." Tori confessed after a moment.

"Ha, I knew it." Jade dropped her script and grinned triumphantly at Tori. She ignored her, stood up and after some hesitation continued.

"From now on we three will work together a lot. You two cannot argue like usual. You have to make sure you are civil with each other." She implored them. Jade jumped up, ready to argue but Beck was faster.

"We don't argue that much, Tori." He tried to fling his arm around Jade in a friendly hug but she rebuffed it and took a step away from him.

"Every time you spend some time together you end up arguing and sniping at one another. It's not as bad as towards the end of your relationship when you were screaming, but it's still bad." Tori continued, rolling her eyes at him. "This is not going to be like in Hollywood Arts. Here they may just fire us if you act like this." He could see that she was serious, but still thought she was exaggerating, they weren't that bad.

"What about you and Jade. You two argue a lot too." Beck pointed out. It wasn't like him and Jade were the only ones prone to arguing.

"I've learned to ignore her when I have to." Tori pointed out to him. He turned to Jade waiting for her to object. To his surprise Jade looked calm and thoughtful.

"Okay, Vega we'll try." She announced unexpectedly, which was met with disbelieving but grateful smile by Tori. That took Beck by surprise and even an hour later, when he was driving home, he was still wondering what had brought on this uncharacteristically accommodating reaction from Jade.

**A.N. Reviews, suggestions and critiques are more than welcome.**


	5. Shooting the Pilot I

******A.N. Thanks for all the reviews. i-am-allyssa12345 I might use your idea in a latter chapter.**

**Shooting the Pilot I**

"Cut! That's it people." The director yelled. The cameras stopped and the handful of actors and the two dozens of personnel on the set turned to him. Beck too turned. This had been his fifth take and the surfboard he had to carry was beginning to get heavy. "Matthew that was wonderful! Good job from you too Oliver." The point of the Bird Scene might have been to teach them the actor shouldn't depend on the approval of others, but Beck had to admit that the praise of a professional director did feel nice. "Make-up, prepare Matthew for his next scene! Where the hell is Kirsten?" the director yelled at his two assistants.

Beck left the surfboard with the prop guys. When he turned to take a bottle of water he saw a sight he would have thought impossible only few weeks ago – Jade West in a cheerleader's uniform. The uniform, while not revealing was formfitting enough to accentuate her sumptuous figure. Beck would have said that she looked very sexy if it wasn't for the sour scowl marring her face at the moment.

"Don't you look wonderful as a cheerleader?" he greeted her, trying to hide a smile caused by her obvious disdain for the sexy uniform she was wearing.

"Don't start with me Beck. I'm not in the mood." She glared at him detecting even the hint of amusement in his demeanor.

"What? I was just paying you a compliment in the spirit of our new civility." He innocently replied.

"That little sparkle in your eye wasn't complementary." Jade pointed a finger accusatorily at him. He raised his hands in conciliatory gesture not wanting to jeopardize the work place civility they had managed to maintain for several days now.

"Anyway, have a nice scene." She nodded back, sufficiently convinced in his sincerity.

"Thanks, I still can't believe I have to play a perky cheerleader. What was that casting director smoking? This is worse than the sleepover at Sikowitz's." Jade cast another incredulous look at her attire and shook her head in revulsion.

"Have you seen Tori?" Beck tried to change the subject. In response Jade rolled her eyes and pointed in direction of the spot where the star's trailers were parked. There in front of the largest one stood Tori. She was dressed in a long skirt and a baggy knitted top purposefully chosen to hide her body. That combined with her lack of make-up and unflattering ponytail made Tori look "Hollywood Homely". Of course it was done in a way that would make apparent even to the most oblivious viewers that this girl will have a makeover not later than the middle of the season. It wasn't Tori's outfit however that caused Jade's reaction. It was who she was talking to. She was talking to the star of the show Britt Robertson, who was giggling like a schoolgirl to something Tori had just said.

"How did that happened?" Beck wondered aloud. The four stars of the show were perfectly civil and professional with their novice coworkers, but seemed completely uninterested in any personal contacts with them.

"I don't know. My working hypothesis is that Vega is a mind-controlling witch." Jade said before walking off so that the make-up people can prepare her for her scene. He went to the room where the actors playing minor characters hung out between scenes. He had finished for the day so he changed back in his own clothes. Now he just had to wait for Jade and Tori to finish, since they all had come here with his car. Thankfully he had brought his Pear-Pad so he was going to watch some old iCarly episodes. Just as he'd settle down to watch, Tori came in the room. He waved at her to come over and she sat next to him.

"How do you like your first week of shooting?" Beck asked after they watched one of the episodes. He had observed Tori taking on TV with her usual enthusiasm, but still wanted to make sure.

"I liked it. It's so different then stage play. Here there are long periods waiting interlaced with times of frenetic activity." She replied with a smile.

"Yes it is. How do you find playing a shy unpopular girl?" Tori thought about it before answering.

"She is not exactly unpopular; she is more average and shy." She replied thoughtfully. "It's not that big of a stretch for me. In my old school I wasn't part of the popular crowd. I was more average whit a pinch of a geek." She finished with a strange smile.

"I find that very hard to believe." Beck couldn't hide his skepticism. He found it unlikely that a girl like Tori could be overlooked in any circumstances. "Are you trying to tell me that the boys in Sherwood High weren't all chasing after you?" If that was true he had to begin to doubt the mental capacity of the boys in Sherwood High. Tori giggled at the doubt written on his face.

"No, they weren't all chasing after me. You forget that boys in their early teens have only one measurement for beauty, and I was lacking it somewhat." She gestured at her covered by the unflattering top chest. Beck's eyes followed the movement of her hand. His pulse quickened when he caught her meaning.

"Ah, I remember. Jade benefited greatly from this in eighth grade." They both burst in laughter at his answer. They continued joking around until it came time for Tori's scene.

**A.N. Reviews, suggestions and critiques are more than welcome.**


	6. Shooting the Pilot II

**Shooting the Pilot II**

It was the last day of shooting for the pilot. Beck was driving with Tori to the set. Jade didn't have any scenes today so it was only the two of them. They were listening to music and making small talk. Beck was sniggering at Tori's recall of Trina's latest shenanigans. When they reached the set and after they changed in their character's outfits the director called them over for instructions.

"Oliver, Vega, in this scene your main purpose is to support emotionally your partners in the first half and to restrain them in the second half." He began, this time without consulting his notebook for their names. After two weeks he had managed to remember their last names at least. Then he turned to Beck. "Oliver, your secondary goal is to take notice of Veronica. Not too much though, she has been in the school with you the whole time but you haven't had reasons to notice her before." Beck and Tori exchanged surprised glances. Veronica was Tori's character name.

"Should I show romantic interest?" Beck asked tentatively. It seemed too early for this.

"No, just that she is an interesting person you should remember from now on." The director clarified before addressing Tori. "Vega, you should pretend he is not there, but in a way that shows that you are making an effort not to notice him." Beck smirked a little; it seemed that Veronica was going to be interested in his character after all.

After another half an hour everything was finally ready and Beck and Tori took their places by Matthew and Britt. The director yelled "Action!" and the scene began. While the leads were going through the beginning of the scene Beck and Tori quietly sized up the other and stood supportively by their own lead. The argument heated up, Beck noted with admiration how realistic the explosive mix of emotions between Britt and Matthew looked, despite the fact that the two seemed to be just good acquaintances off set. In the heat of the argument Veronica got caught in the verbal crossfire. Stung by the words of Matthew's character the quiet, unassuming, trying to be invisible girl just turned towards him. Her eyes were illuminated by a sudden burst of anger and indignation.

"You don't know anything about me or my life!" Beck didn't need the director's cue; he knew that this was the moment his character was supposed to take notice and remember this girl. The rest of the shoot went smoothly. They had to do only two more takes. After they were done Beck saw the producer, the one who knew Sikowitz. He motioned them to come to him. He seemed busy but was in a good mood.

"That was it for you two, for now. Now we'll show the pilot to the big wigs of the network. If everything goes well in a month or so we should begin shooting twelve new episodes." He explained to the two teens. "You can go home and wait a call from us. Don't forget to get your checks." They thanked him. After they changed back in their own clothes Beck and Tori stopped by the administration to get their money. Two checks for thousand dollars each waited them.

"My first money for acting! If someone had told me a year ago that I'll be getting paid for acting I wouldn't have believed them at all." Tori said, holding the check as if it was going to evaporate like a dream. Beck remembered feeling like that after he got paid for 'Miss Fire'.

"And that is just the beginning." He told her with a smile. "Come on, let me treat you, you are a real actress now." He grabbed her by the hand and pulled her to his car. It was a nice early sunny Californian afternoon and he didn't feel like going back home just yet.

"Shouldn't the treat be on me, after all it is my first pay for acting?" Tori asked, bewildered by his sudden enthusiasm. "And shouldn't we invite our friends?"

"We'll do that tomorrow. Now let's just get some ice-cream. I know a place with terrific sundaes." He dismissed her objections; they jumped in his car and drove off.

Soon they were sitting in a park, around a small table, with a big bowl of sundae between them. The sun was shining as usual, but it wasn't too hot.

"Isn't it nice to relax after a day of work with a friend and some ice-cream on a wonderful afternoon like this?" Beck told Tori who was taking her time enjoying the sundae before her.

"We were there only for three hours, Beck." She replied with a chuckle. "But yeah, it is nice."

"How do you like TV acting so far?" He asked her after swallowing a big spoonful of delicious chocolate ice-cream.

"I like it just fine. I love my character. She is so different than me – so shy and reserved. But that outburst in the last scene was interesting. I wonder what the writers have in mind for her." He always had liked the way her enthusiasm could make her eyes shine.

"Did you notice that the stage directions in today's scene made it seem like Veronica might be interested in my character." He asked after they both had their fill with the sundae.

"It seemed that way, but this is just the pilot. Who knows if the writers will follow through?" Tori said nonchalantly, but Beck could see her get a little sheepish at the subject.

"I know, but it could be fun. We haven't played romantic couple since 'Uptown, Downtown'." He remembered how easy and fun playing being in love with her had been.

"That was fun. Except for the zombie mask – that was itchy." She laughed at the memory.

"So, how would you do it?" Beck looked at her admiring the way the sun-rays made her hair glow like amber.

"Do what?" her eyebrows arched quizzically.

"Play interested in me." The early afternoon sun seemed to be getting to her because her cheeks flushed a little.

"I don't know. May be I'll stare at you when you are not looking." She gave him a coy glance. "Or I'll play with my hair when we talk." Tori coiled a strand of her hair coquettishly around her finger.

"That's not bad, but it's not your A-game." Beck teased her. He had seen her try to get the attention of a guy she liked before and knew she had much more powerful moves.

"Oh really, she is supposed to be shy and inexperienced." She justified herself. "And what would be your a-game, Casanova?" Tri challenged him.

"I would watch her every move when she is around." Beck began, observing the way her long fingers twirled her ice-cream spoon. "I would stare deep in her eyes and smile whenever we talk." His eyes captured hers. "And I would try to sneak in innocent touches, like touching her hand," Beck reached over and gently touched her hand, taking the spoon she still idly twirled and put it in the empty bowl "or brushing loose strands of hair from her face." He reached again, this time to her face and tucked a stray wisp of silky hair back behind her ear. His fingertips brushed her soft skin and he could feel a tingle spread up his hand, arm and his whole body. He leaned in, forgetting for a moment that this was just a game. His eyes were focused on Tori's parted lips. Those were very beautiful, kissable lips.

"That would definitely be effective." Her words brought him back to reality. He blinked twice, getting his bearings back. Embarrassed by his sudden loss of control he covered by proposing to go and pay the sundae. Soon he was driving Tori back to her house.

**A.N. Reviews, suggestions and critiques are more than welcome.**


	7. The Party I

**The Party I**

Instead on the next day, the party happened the next Friday. Despite Jade's protests that it was stupid to blow half of they paychecks throwing party for people she barely tolerated, Tori prevailed and instead of a small celebration for the six friends her place they threw a big party for probably half of their year at Nozu. Despite the fact that they were organizing the party all three of them seemed to have come without a date. A fact he pointed out to Jade when they ran into each other at the bar.

"There are no decent single guys left in Hollywood Arts. At least not brave enough ask me out." Jade replied with a shrug. She looked very good in a black dress and black tights that showed off her figure especially well.

"More like desperate enough." For the life of him he couldn't say what exactly made him say this.

"I don't see your date either." Her acerbic reply came without any delay. Before they could continue down the well-worn-out path of one of their arguments Tori showed up to get a drink.

"Do you two have to argue every time you are together?" Beck could feel the barely restrained annoyance in her voice.

"I don't see your date, Vega." Within a blink of an eye, Jade switched targets.

"I came with André." Tori's answer sounded somewhat defensively. "We came as friends." She continued after seeing Jade's questioning look. Beck choose to ignore the feeling of displeasure and then relieve brought by Tori's last two sentences. "I didn't have time to find a date because someone left me to organize the party by myself." She emphasized this with a pointed look at Jade.

"I don't organize parties." Jade replied as if that was self-evident and anyone with a brain should have known it. "I did my job by giving you my share of the money." She added as the only hint of apology or explanation and walked away.

"What is it with you two?" She turned to Beck. "Why does she have to be so contentious?" He felt embarrassed and couldn't meet her eyes.

"Truth to be told this time I provoked her." He admitted reluctantly.

"Why?" Tori looked at him with surprise.

"I don't know. For some reason every time I and she end up close I become irritable and argumentative. It's like I can't help it." Beck judiciously didn't mention the odd rush he felt when arguing with Jade, or the lingering frustration afterwards.

"Strange, I thought that you two would've settled down after the brake up." To his surprise Beck could definitely feel a hint of disappointment in her voice. Before he could process this observation his attention was caught by something across the room. Some guy was chatting up Jade.

"I thought so too." It was why he had broken up with Jade after all. He snuck another peek at Jade and the guy. This time she caught him staring and her eyes got that all too familiar malicious glint. She smiled to the guy she was talking to, took him by the hand and they both headed to the dance floor.

"It's like bickering with each other is a habit for you two." Tori's words brought his attention back to her. There was something true in them, but he didn't want to deal with the complicated mess that was his relationship with Jade. He didn't want to do it now and he didn't want to do it with Tori.

"This is turning into a way too serious conversation for a party." Beck told her lightheartedly, reinforcing it with one of his most charming smiles. She didn't seem to buy it, but was willing to let it go for now. "Let's dance instead." He extended a hand in invitation. After a second of hesitation Tori slipped her hand in his and they moved to the group of dancing teens.

On the way over he saw Rex flirting shamelessly with two girls at the same time, while Robbie looked forlornly at Cat, who was giggling flirtatiously at the jokes of some very interested boy. It wasn't a nice thing to think, bur knowing that someone else's love life was more screwed up than his was kind of comforting. When they got to the dance floor, Beck nodded to André who was already there with some cute girl who he remembered seeing in singing class. Tori and he began moving in synch with the fast beats of the music. The remnant of the bad irritation he was feeling since his encounter with Jade dissipated quickly while he was watching Tori dance before him. It was hard to be in any kind of bad mood with such a lovely site. Her lithe body swayed and twisted in time with the rhythm. Again Beck was struck by how effortlessly beautiful his friend was. Tori was dressed in tight black jeans and loose purple sparkling top. Her face, now pleasantly flushed by the exertion, had almost no make-up, as far as he could see. Sometimes, when struck by these observations he had wondered what it would be like to date Tori. Usually he had quickly dismissed these thoughts before, but now he allowed them to linger. On the face of it Tori was kind, smart, friendly, talented and of course devastatingly gorgeous – a dream girlfriend. And yet she was remarkably unlucky when it came to romance. Before he could continue that line of thought the fast dance beat was replaced by a slow song.

After a short, uncomfortable pause Beck slipped his hands around Tori. The two proceeded slowly to spin with the melody. He could feel her body gradually relaxing in his embrace. Beck had never slow-danced with her before. It felt very good. His enjoyment of this unexpectedly intimate moment was interrupted when he saw Jade who was still dancing with the same guy only a few feet away. She was dancing much closer to her partner than he was to Tori. Their bodies were touching. Jade saw him looking and slowly slipped her partner's hands down her waist until they rested only millimeters away from her ass. Beck could feel irritation and even anger welling up in him. His shoulders tensed up. Tori, whose hands rested on them, looked at him inquiringly. He smiled at her reassuringly, tried to shake off the unwelcomed negative feelings and return to enjoying his moment with Tori. As much as he wanted to he couldn't do it. He just couldn't quite get the site of the guy's hands so close to his ex's ass out of his mind. For a second he thought about pulling the same trick on Jade, but he knew he could never use Tori like that. After the song ended Tori was called away by frantically gesticulating Cat and he moved to the bar to get a drink. There he was joined by André and Robbie.


	8. The Party II

**A.N. Thanks for all the reviews. As for Beck's apparent feelings for Jade, let's not forget that he didn't break up with her because he didn't love her anymore, but because the love was no longer enough to compensate for all the fighting. May be now, that he is single, feelings for someone else will replace the feelings he still has for Jade.**

**The Party II**

"Nice party you've thrown, man." Andre patted him friendly on the back. Beck was sitting at the bar, nursing a drink, with André on his right and Robbie on his left.

"Thanks, but it's mostly Tori's doing." Beck politely deflected the unearned compliment.

"Yeah, it's nice…" Robbie added absentmindedly. His attention was focused on Cat, who was talking animatedly with Tori at the other end of the bar.

"Why don't you just ask her to dance, Robbie?" Beck asked, tired of watching him stare forlornly at the bubbly little redhead. Robbie shook his head and sighed.

"Because, last time I asked her to make out she told me I was gross." He rested his head in defeat on his hands.

"When was that!" André asked surprised that Robbie could be so forward with a girl.

"It was after we sang Beck the song about your grandma's pee in his car." Beck cringed at the memory. It had taken three cleanings to take the smell completely out of the upholstery.

"You don't ask a girl if you could make out. It's either the right moment and you just do it, or it's not the right moment and asking makes it even less likely." He told Robbie with an air of authority. Robbie perked up, eager to get the advice of his much more successful with the opposite sex friend.

"What if I think it's the right moment, but it turns out it isn't?" Robbie enquired, gripped suddenly by doubt.

"Then you get slapped." Andre interjected casually, not that it happened to him much, but sometimes you could read the situation wrong.

"But I don't want to get slapped!" Robbie recoiled grabbing his face with both hands.

"It's just one of the risks guys have to take." Andre added sagely. "Now go!" Robbie got up, gathered his courage and after some last encouraging nods from his friends headed to Cat. He was so focused on her that on the half way he tripped and almost fell on his ass. After a quick look around to make sure no one noticed, he continued.

"That guy is hopeless." Andre said shaking his head at his friend's awkwardness.

"Oh come on, he'll get it… eventually." Beck tried to sound more positively. He loved Robbie like a younger brother, but the boy was capable of turning even the simplest social situation into a complete disaster.

"How come you didn't bring a date? I thought that after you and Jade broke up you would be beating the girls back with a stick." Andre remembered envying his friend for all the attention he got from girls ever since their early teens. Of course then Beck had met Jade while André had became really good musician, so now he could honestly say that he had dated much more girls than Beck.

"It's come up." Beck remembered with some mixed feelings the gaggle of girls that showed up almost every morning to ask him to 'drive' them to school. "I don't know. I just haven't met anyone tempting enough yet." Although some of these girls were pleasant to look at, how many conversations about how nice your hair is can you have?

"So it has nothing to do with you hoping to get back with Jade." Despite his friends assurances to the contrary André still couldn't believe that Beck and Jade were really over. Their relationship had been such a permanent part of their group dynamic for the past two and a half years.

"No, why do you ask?" Beck was getting tired of answering this question. Yes, he missed Jade. No he didn't want to get back with her. Why was this so hard to understand? "How come you didn't bring anyone and instead came with Tori." He changed the subject.

"She asked me to. You know it's hard to refuse to Tori. And I knew I could find someone at the party." Beck smiled inwardly. It was hard to say no to Tori, especially when she looked at you with her bid warm chocolate brown eyes, and then batted house long raven eyelashes.

"Come on André, it's time for the song." Tori's sudden appearance interrupted Beck's thoughts. She smiled at him and then grabbed André by the hand.

"Don't tell me you managed to write a song too." Beck jokingly told his friend.

"No, it's one of my old ones." Andre replied while following Tori to the small stage of Nozu that was usually used for the place's karaoke nights. Most of the teens at the party left whatever they were doing and began to gather around the improvised stage. Beck made his way, with some effort, to the front. He always enjoyed his friends' musical performances. After some commotion the first notes of the song were heard. Beck recognized it, it was 'Countdown'. Andre had written it for the birthday of an obnoxious girlfriend of his who was the daughter of some big shot producer. Andre had never told him how the things with the producer had gone, but Beck had heard a recording of the song once. It had sounded good, but the record did not give justice the live performance. The sheer joy not just of the song itself but the both friends who performed it was contagious. Beck, noted, with some amusement, the way the girls in the audience were watching André play masterly his keyboard or sing his part of the song. He will definitely have his pick tonight. All these thought soon left Beck's mind, his attention focused on Tori. He would never tire to marvel at the way his beautiful and kind friend turned into such an enchantress once she was on stage. How a girl often prone to fumbling could turn her motions into a perfect symphony. He was so engrossed in the song that he didn't even notice that Jade had ended up beside him.

"Vega could be such a show off." Despite her words Beck could see her foot tap in time with the melody. He choose to ignore her baiting, since as easy slipping into the familiar fight mode was, he enjoyed the song too much to get distracted.


	9. The Party III

**The Party III**

The party was beginning to wind down. There were almost a dozen stragglers and Mrs. Lee was beginning to look at her watch meaningfully. Jade had left, not a half an hour earlier, after the guy she had been flirting with, in Beck's opinion embolden by some liquid courage, had become too frisky. Robbie and Cad had left even earlier separately, but not before the curly-headed boy had managed to dance once with the petite redhead. Beck had spent more of the evening watching other people dance then dancing, despite the many girls who tried to ask him. He wasn't particularly sure why he had refused them; they all have been nice enough, but he just wasn't in the mood to dance tonight. Maybe after so much time with Jade flirting with almost unknown girls just felt too odd. A tap on the shoulder distracted him from these thoughts.

"Hey man, would you do me a favor?" André asked with a low voice and after a positive shrug from Beck continued. "Would you drive Tori to her house? We came with my car, but it looks like my night is not going to be over any time soon, if you know what I mean." He cocked his head pointedly towards a good looking blonde who was waiting impatiently by the door.

"Sure, no problem pal. Have fun." Beck readily assured him. He knew that with school, his music and looking after his grandma André didn't have a lot of nights to unwind, so he was happy to help him out. And of course driving Tori home wasn't exactly a chore. André grinned, gratefully thumped him on the back and ran to his date. Beck looked around and saw Tori talking to a guy and a girl he recognized from their singing class. He walked to them, greeted her company before turning to her.

"Looks like I'm going to be your ride home tonight." He told her with a half-smile. "Andre's luck smiled on him." His half-smile turned into a suggestive grin. Tori just shook her head in amusement.

"Yeah, he warned me that it was a possibility." She looked at him with a mischievous spark in her eye. "Are you sure you want to be my ride, and not be with some of the girls who were devouring you with their eyes all night? I can always call Trina." She imitated perfectly his suggestive grin back at him, before bursting in laughter.

"Yes, I'm sure." He replied slightly dazed. For a split second there just as she was grinning suggestively she looked so sexy. He couldn't remember seeing he like that. He'd seen her pretty, cute, beautiful, charming, even Cat-like adorable, but never like that.

"Then I'll be with you soon, just as I send of the last guests." She told him before turning back to her company. This was fortunate because it gave him time to recover. "It won't take long." Indeed it didn't take long. In half an hour all the guests were gone. Tori finished talking with irate looking Mrs. Lee before telling him that she's ready to go. They got out of Nozu and headed to Beck's car.

"The party went great. I think Hollywood Arts will talk about it for quite a while." Beck told her after he drove off the parking lot.

"I'm glad, but you didn't seem to have that much fun." She replied with a happy but tired smile. "You barely danced, despite all the girls asking you. You spend your time talking with André, Robbie and other guys, and mainly watched others have fun." Her curious eyes looked him over, with maybe a little worry in them.

"I did have fun." He protested. "Maybe I just wasn't in a dancing mood, but I had fun." This time he sounded a lot more convincing, and he really did enjoy himself. So what if he hadn't danced with anyone beside the two songs with Tori. Maybe dancing with some random girl wasn't hid thing.

"Okay then, after all the whole point of the party was to celebrate our first acting job." Tori relented.

"Mission accomplished then. I think all of us had fun." Beck told her with a mock serious nod.

"Yeah, even Jade did, at least up until the end." Jade's face, when her dancing partner had tried to slip his hands to her ass, this time without her permission, had been kind of funny. Beck might have been a little jealous if he didn't feel too sorry for the guy for whatever revenge Jade was going to visit upon him.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that guy will be very sorry on Monday." Beck gave her a sidelong glance and asked something that he wondered while watching her work hard running the party. "Tori, you know that we would have been perfectly happy with a little party just for the gang. Why did you insist on a huge party that you knew you'll get stuck organizing? Not that I didn't appreciate it." The question seemingly surprised Tori, but after a while she replied.

"First off, it wasn't that big of a deal. And second…" She continued giving him embarrassed smile. "In my old school I was just one of the many students, doing wild parties was Trina's thing. In Hollywood Arts I found something that I'm good at, something that I like. So I decided to change, be more outgoing." Her explanation finished by a mighty yawn which hurriedly covered with her palm.

"Alright, but just so that you know, we all like you just the way you are. You don't have to go out of your way to impress people. You are already impressive enough." She replied with a grateful but tired smile.

"Thanks Beck, you might be right. I think I overestimated my strength. I'm exhausted." Her long day and night were obviously catching up with her. "If you don't mind, I'll just close my eyes for a second."

Soon enough she drifted off. The rest of the ride Beck couldn't help but steal a glance, ever so often to her sleeping form. She looked so relaxed and pretty. He parked the car by Vega's house and moved to wake her up. The street light was illuminating her. Her hair was falling in alabaster waves down her shoulders. Her chest was rhythmically rising and falling, attracting his gaze to the twin mounds of her breasts covered by her thin top. Beck's eye reluctantly moved upwards, to Tori's beautiful sleeping face. There they focused on her mouth. Her lips were slightly parted, revealing two rows of pearly white teeth. Her lip-gloss sparkled a little, reminding him of the first and only time they kissed on her second day at Hollywood Arts. The memory of her lips was fuzzy, but he remembered clearly that he liked the kiss very much. What he did next was probably very stupid, but he just wanted to remember the feel of her lips. He leaned over, his lips lightly touching hers. They were so soft and smooth, even better than he remembered them. Before he could do something even dumber a loud voice brought him to reality.

"Tori!" Trina startled him and he immediately moved away from the still sleeping Tori. He gently shook her and that combined with Trina's second yell woke her up.

"I'm coming, Trina!" She yelled back at her sister before turning back to Beck. "Thanks for the ride, Beck. I'll see you on Monday at school." Still sleepy she didn't notice his flustered state, got out of the car and walked to her irate sister. Beck drove off still perplexed by his impulsive action.

**A.N. Reviews, suggestions and critiques are more than welcome.**


	10. The Harsh Light of Day

**A.N. Thanks for all the reviews. And yes Beck's attraction is more adult. He is a 17 year old guy who's had some experience with his ex, so naturally he is going to have sexual thoughts for the girl he is attracted to.**

**The Harsh Light of Day**

Beck spent the weekend thinking about his sort-of-kiss with Tori. He was wondering what had gotten into him. He had almost molested his sleeping friend. Beck knew he had felt attracted to her from the day he saw her spilling his coffee on his shirt. You had to be blind, deaf and gay not to notice a girl as gorgeous as Tori. But he had never consciously allowed this attraction to influence him before. Thank God she hadn't caught him! How on Earth he would have explained what he was doing kissing her while she was asleep. By Sunday evening he had managed to convince himself that his sudden urge to kiss Tori wasn't such a big deal after all. It was just a manifestation of his frustration. He hasn't been intimate with a girl since his break up with Jade. Even before, since the last few weeks before the breakup their fights didn't end in their usual make out. He knew that this explanation was weak in the face of the fact that he has had plenty of chances to hook up with any of the girls who had tried to flirt with him since the breakup, but he hadn't even been tempted to do so. But he chooses to stick with this explanation for his own peace of mind. After all, the alternative was that he was crushing on Tori and that could only lead to trouble.

On Monday morning the day began really well. Random student in the halls were telling him how great the party has been and how much fun they've had. He saw Jade with a little satisfied smile on her lips, which meant that whatever revenge she intended for the poor drunken fool, who had tried to grab her ass, was already in motion. All that came to a screeching halt when he reached the lockers. He saw Tori standing by her colorful locker, talking on the phone. All the resolve from the past two days evaporated. All he could think about at the moment was how good her lips had felt against his, and after she bend down to get a fallen book, how good her derrière looked in her customary skinny jeans. "God, I'm turning into a horny teen pervert." He groaned quietly to himself, before quickly marching to his locker. While he was picking up his books and trying to get himself together André came up to him.

"I told you the party was going to be talked about." He cheerfully greeted him and then added with satisfaction. "My after-party went smoothly to, thanks for asking." He looked at Beck expecting the usual congratulations.

"That's great André." Even Cat would have picked up the lack of enthusiasm in Beck's voice.

"If it's so great, then why do you look like someone told you you're going to be bald in a month?" Beck could tell that André knew that something was up. If he told him to drop it André would but part of him wanted to talk with somebody about it.

"Do you really want to know?" He asked his friend after a minute of reflection that only intensified André's curiosity. "And you promise not to tell a soul." He added with such seriousness that André didn't even think about objecting when Beck grabbed his hand and hurriedly dragged him to the janitor's closet.

"I don't know how comfortable I am with being dragged by a dude into the janitor's closet." Andre said, trying to lighten the mood after the two boys got in the cramped little room.

"I couldn't tell you in the hall." Beck explained apologetically.

"Okay, okay, what's the big deal?" André obviously couldn't contain his curiosity anymore.

"I kissed Tori." Beck finally let out the reason for his odd behavior. For a full minute his friend could only open and close his mouth silently.

"What, when, how?" He blurred, way too loudly, after he regained his ability to form words. Beck shot him a hard look to remind him to lower his voice.

"When I was driving her home, she was tired and dozed off. When we reached her house I reached out to wake her. She looked so good laying there that something came over me and I kissed her lightly on the lips." Beck began explaining hurriedly, his voice becoming slightly wistful in the end.

"Does she know?" The next obvious question came.

"No, Trina yelled something, I jumped off, and then Tori woke up." Beck recalled that part reluctantly because of the near panic he felt when he thought that Trina had caught him.

"So how was it?" André asked, in Beck opinion a bit too eagerly, but just grinned when he received just a hard look in response to his question. "I'm kidding, man. What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know, maybe I should ask her out." Beck hadn't thought it out that far. "What; why are you making faces?" André's expression wasn't one of approval. He hammed and hawed, trying to find the right angle of approach.

"I don't know if that is such a good idea right now. You told me, not that long ago, that you still had feelings for Jade. And Tori definitely isn't a girl for a rebound or something casual." His words came out carefully and somewhat regretfully. Beck's expression hardened as he listened to his friend. "She is more for something serious and lasting." André finished, carefully looking at his friend darkened face.

"Maybe I'm over Jade and want something lasting with Tori." Beck's words came out a tad too petulant for the good of his argument. André seemed to consider his next words carefully.

"Oh really, what would you say then if I told you that I had a crush on Jade while you two were still together. I even wrote her a song." Beck did not expect anything like this. At worst he expected André to tell him that he had a crush on Tori too.

"What! How could you?" Where the hell was André getting off having crushes on Jade! The flash of anger he felt surprised Beck. He hadn't even realized that his hands were clenching into fists.

"Ha, I told you - you are not completely over Jade." Startled by his friend smug tone Beck looked where he was pointing only to see his still clutched hand.

"What am I supposed to do now?" It was just his damn luck, to have feelings for two girls at the same time.

"I don't know. Resolve things with Jade and then, if you still want to, go after Tori." It was easy for André to say. After so much time it was like second nature to have feelings for Jade. Even if he knew that nothing good could come from them, he didn't know how to get rid of them.

"Damn it!" Beck cursed before getting out of the cramped room.

**A.N. Reviews, suggestions and critiques are more than welcome.**


	11. Tutor

**Tutor**

The biology lesson was nearing its end but if you had asked Beck what it was about he wouldn't be able to tell you. After his talk with André he was too wrapped up in his thoughts to pay the necessary attention to the teacher's words. He focused only when the teacher didn't give him back his test when she was returning them to the rest of the class. After the bell rung she motioned him to stay. His feeling of foreboding were confirmed when she took out his test and handed it to him.

"Mr. Oliver this is unacceptable. If your work doesn't improve you'll fail Biology." The hard look she gave him emphasized the seriousness of her words. Beck groaned inwardly while taking the test marked with a bid red D. With the break up, the show and his newfound romantic entanglement he has been neglecting some of his classes.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Johnson. I just can't seem to be able to wrap my head around the material." He tried with his most pitiful voice. Sadly Mrs. Johnson was seemingly the only female teacher who was immune to his charm. She just gave him an irate look. That was nothing compared to the look his mother was going to give him. Mrs. Oliver still hadn't given up completely on her dream of her son becoming a doctor.

"Your previous work was much better. If you can't focus or understand the material I suggest you find a tutor, then I might allow you to retake the test." He perked up a little. He didn't particularly relish the idea of spending more time studying Biology but maybe there was a way to avoid his mother's wrath after all.

"Yes Mrs. Johnson, I'm sure that would help." He sounded every bit the remorseful and eager to mend his ways student. "Who would you suggest?"

"I would suggest one of my top students – Mr. Van Cleef or Ms. Vega." Mrs. Johnson replied after a moment of thought. Alarm bells sounded in Beck's head.

"Which one of the Vega sisters do you mean?" He fervently hoped that he wouldn't have to choose between the creepy and the annoying.

"Oh I'm talking about the younger one, Tori. Too bad her sister doesn't have her aptitude." A wave of relief spread through Beck. Maybe there was a silver lining to his problem with Biology. He would spend time with Tori without violating his decision not to pursue her romantically for now.

"Alright then I'll notify her." Mrs. Johnson said after he indicated his choice.

"No need, I'll tell her. We have the next class together." Beck walked out of the class with way too good mood for someone who had just received a D. He found Tori standing by her locker talking to André. He was showing her a sheet of music, probably a new song.

"Hay Tori, would you do me a favor." Beck interrupted them, patting Tori lightly on the shoulder.

"Sure what favor?" She turned her head sideways to face him giving him one of her brilliant smiles. He had to mentally smack himself to stop staring at her lips.

"I'm having trouble with Biology and Mrs. Johnson proposed you for a tutor. Will you accept?" André who was listening arched his eyebrows at Beck not fully buying his friend's explanation. That was partially Beck's fault since he sounded way too up beat for someone who has just been told he has to study a subject he found boring more.

"Sure Beck it will be my pleasure." Tori seemed pleased to be able to help him.

"It will be a real tutoring. I'll pay you and everything." Beck elaborated more for the benefit of his smirking best friend. She tried to refuse the money but he was adamant until she relented.

"Okay, but instead of paying me with money you are going to give me rides when I need them for the next month." She suddenly proposed.

"Are you sure you want just this?" It seemed like modest request. He would have done it anyway.

"Yeah I'm sick of begging Trina or my parents for a ride." She knew she had to get her license eventually but she somehow could never manage to pass the exams.

"It's a deal then, I'll be your chauffeur for a month."

"When do you want to begin? I can't today. I have plans with André to work on a song." She turned to André who promptly wiped his smirk off and just nodded affirmatively.

"What about tomorrow, at four?" Beck proposed while trying to simultaneously smile pleasantly to Tori and glare murderously at André who was making kissy faces behind Tori's back.

"Sounds good, I'll wait you at my house." Beck, who was hoping for a more intimate setting, tried to come up with a good objection. He was minimizing his encounters with Trina, who still insisted on giving him what she obviously thought were seductive looks, at least until she refocused on some other guy.

"No, let's do it at my place." As much as he loved Tori's hospitality Beck wanted her to see him in a situation other than a friend who hangs out at her place. Although study buddy didn't sound terribly romantic either it gave them an opportunity to get to know one another better.

"Your RV is too cramped." Okay, that hurt a bit. He found the RV to be very cozy. On the other hand studying there might lead to temptations which he wanted to avoid for now. It would be very untimely if he lost control again and jumped her in his RV.

"We'll study in the house. My mother will be more than happy to see me read something other than scripts." She agreed and they made plan for tomorrow. Beck was very pleased with himself. He had managed to turn a school problem into an opportunity to spend time with Tori.


	12. First Lesson

**A.N. I'm not completely happy with this part but hopefully the next will be more satisfying.**

**First Lesson**

Beck checked for the last time the table in the living room. The textbooks and notebooks were neatly arranged. In the middle of the table was sitting big glass pitcher with cold lemonade flanked by two bowls with snacks – sweet and salty ones. He checked again his watch – it was five minutes too early. His mother had taken the news about his D surprisingly well. She didn't even switch to Punjabi which she did when she was truly upset. Beck had always found that habit peculiar since she has never been to India having been born in Vancouver years after his grandparents had immigrated to Canada. He checked the books again and decided that they were too neatly stacked so he messed them up a little. Yes, that way it looked more casual. Beck knew that he was obsessing but this was unknown territory for him. How do you flirt without actually flirting? He'd never been particularly good at flirting. He didn't have to. All he had to do usually was to smile to a girl and she would be all over him. The door bell rung and Beck hurried over to open. Tori was standing there. She was dressed in skinny jeans which were accentuating her slender long legs. She had a comfortable but stylish top and her favorite cowboy boots. He couldn't see any make-up on her face. When she walked pass him Beck sensed the faint smell of perfume.

"I don't think I've been in your house before Beck." She said looking around the house at the beautiful and meticulously arranged interior.

"No, you've been only in the RV." Beck showed her the way to the living room.

"It's very nice." Tori complimented while looking at the numerous vases full of carefully arranged flowers adorning the house.

"Yeah my mom likes to keep it tidy and clean." They reached the living room and sat around the table.

"Is that why you live I the RV?" Tori asked innocently.

"Hey my RV is clean." He tidied up the RV, sometimes.

"So should we begin?" The next hour was filed with neurons and ganglia and all sort of stuff that Beck knew he should learn but had always found incredibly boring. While part of him was busy with understanding the material, other part of him wondered how Tori found time to learn everything. She had to learn so much on their art subjects in order to catch up with the rest of them and yet she managed to keep her score on their regular subjects high enough to be an honor student. It must be exhausting. These thoughts occupied him for a while until he made a valiant effort to focus. This time he caught up and asked some relevant questions that made Tori smile and plow further into the material. His concentration didn't last as long as he hoped and after a while part of his mind began to wander again. This time his eyes just gazed at Tori's lips as they moved while she was explaining the functions of the cerebral cortex. He was honestly trying to keep his mind on Biology but his uncooperative subconscious insisted on reminding him how smooth soft and sweet those lips had felt under his for that brief second in his car.

"Beck you are drifting off. Your eyes are glassing over." She looked at him annoyed and lightly slapped his arm.

"I'm sorry." He focused his attention again feeling a little embarrassed that she nearly caught him staring in decidedly unplatonic way at her lips.

"Let's take a break. I think I can use some of that lemonade." She reached over and poured herself a glass.

"Have some of the snacks too." Beck pushed a bowl to her after popping some in his mouth.

"They are delicious." She said after trying some of them. After Tori halved the glass she looked at him carefully.

"Beck tell me honestly why am I really here." Her question startled him a little. It was true that André saw through his little ploy but he already knew about his attraction. Beck didn't think Tori would catch on that fast.

"What do you mean? You are here to help me study and understand the material." He replied innocently.

"Oh come on, you are perfectly capable of learning this on your own." Tori wasn't buying it, but at least his bigger secret was safe. Well as they say the best lies are partly true.

"Okay you got me. I didn't learn for the test, so when I got the bad mark I told the teacher that I didn't understand the material." She looked up at him surprised by his guile.

"So you can retake the test after you had time to learn." Tori couldn't help but smile at his little trick.

"Yes." He nodded confirming her words.

"Okay but you are still going to drive me for a month." She jokingly shook her finger at him.

"You got it." He nodded back.

"Why do you even care about your marks in Biology? It's not like you are going to need them when you become a famous actor." Beck felt flattered by the certainty of her tone. It felt good to know she had such faith in him.

"My mom has always dreamt that her son will be a handsome doctor and that she will be able to pick me a good wife amongst all the women that will be clamoring to date me." As he was saying these words Tori's grin grew wider and wider until she could hardly suppress her giggle.

"Well at least she got the women part right." She told him through her laughter.

They continued joking around for a while before returning back to the textbooks. When they finished with studying Beck offered to drive her home. She told him about André's new song, about Trina who it seemed had found a new boy to obsess over. Beck met the last information with relief. After he dropped her off he returned home. The rest of the day was spent in his usual mundane pastimes. That night as he was laying in his bed waiting for the sleep something occurred to him. This whole day he hadn't thought about Jade even once. It was a strange sensation which he didn't know whether to feel happy or sad about.

**A.N. Reviews, suggestions and critiques are more than welcome.**


	13. Driving Miss Vega

**Driving Miss Vega**

This fine Saturday morning Beck had to get up uncharacteristically early. The reason was not some chore that his mother had him do from time to time or some of the fishing trips they did with his dad. No this time the reason was Tori Vega. Yesterday she had very sweetly almost apologetically called in a part of her payment for the lessons she was giving him. She wanted to spend the day in the city and needed a car. So here he was on this fine Californian morning parked in front of Vega's house waiting for her to come out. Beck had driven here directly from home so he felt a little cranky since he hadn't had his morning coffee. His mood improved decidedly when he saw Tori coming out of the house and walking towards him. The reason for this was not only the way she looked. Tori was dressed in skintight pants with short boots with mid-high heel. She also had nice off-shoulder top. But what really lifted Beck's spirit was the cup of coffee in her hand. Beck got out and met her I the middle of their walkway. Amused by the craven way he ogled the coffee cup she handed it to him.

"You are a life saver." He said after he took two bug gulps from the hot aromatic revitalizing beverage. Now that his caffeine craving was somewhat sated he turned back to her and wished her 'Good morning' with a rueful smile.

"You've been with Jade way too long." She told him shaking her head while he opened the passenger side door of the car.

"No argument here." He gallantly offered her his hand to help her climb in. Then he closed the door and swiftly hopped in. "Where are we going now Miss Vega?" He tipped his imaginary chauffeur's hat at her.

"First we're going shopping." Beck gave an involuntary groan. Why did his first day with Tori had to be spend sopping. "Don't groan. I got an A on my test, so I'm going to buy something pretty with the parental bonus. Now where did I put my phone?" First she tried looking for inn in her pockets and then after she failed she turned to look in her bag which she had left on the backseat. Her movement presented him with a perfect close up view of the firmest roundest bottom he had ever seen incased in a tight pants leaving just enough to the imagination. Beck gulped involuntarily at the display Tori was inadvertently giving him. Maybe shopping wasn't going to be so bad.

"I found it." Thankfully when she sat back down she didn't see how embarrassed his face was. She gave him the address of the store and they drove off. The place turned out to be a quaint vintage store. In it Tori found all kinds of strange but surprisingly stylish things. After an hour spend there she left with a pair of boots, ripped jeans from a label she told him you couldn't find anywhere else and a crazy looking glasses that in Tori's opinion Cat would love. He found something too - a cool belt from the sixties. After that they went to a record store, where they sold real vinyl records.

"Since when do you buy records?" he couldn't hide the surprise in his voice. He always thought that she was only interested in modern pop music.

"André turned me on to them. He has very impressive collection." Of course, André was a walking encyclopedia of music. Beck would bet that his friend would like to have at least half of the records in this store.

"I know. I just didn't expect that you are into them as well." He hoped Tori won't take offense in his words. It was just a side of her he hadn't seen before.

"I have sides you know nothing about." She responded with a playful sparks in her eyes. They lost track of time while browsing the endless shelves filled with some of the best music of the twentieth century. Beck was impressed by her enthusiasm for the music and the knowledge she displayed for groups that had ceased to exist long before she was born. He knew that much of this was born out of the long time she spends with Andre. Even though he knew that his friend had no romantic feelings for Tori Beck couldn't help but feel somewhat envious of all the things he and Tori could share. When they finally got out of the store she was caring two records – one for her and one that she told him André would love to have. They decided to get something to eat and sat down at a small cafe Beck knew of. Just as he was telling Tori a funny story about one of his trip to Canada an ear-piercing squeal followed by a blur of red velvet hair announced the arrival of Cat.

"Hey Tori, Hey Beck what are you guys doing here?" She asked looking curiously at their still smiling faces and at Tori's hand resting atop Beck's.

"I was just out on a little shopping." Tori replied hurriedly pulling her hand away, much to Beck's disappointment.

"Are you two on a date?" Cat's next innocent question came.

"No we're not. Where did you get that idea?" Tori denied looking at her friend in surprise.

"I don't know, seeing you two together sitting eating laughing. I thought you are on a date." Cat shrugged off easily.

"No, Beck is just giving me a ride." Tori told her about the tutoring and how Beck had agreed to give her rides to wherever she needed instead of payment.

"Once my brother had to give a ride to this girl but she ran away in the middle of the ride when he began to yell at the trees for being too green." When Cat stopped to take a breath Tori interrupted her before the petite redhead launched in to another of her endless stories.

"Cat what are you doing here?" Cat blinked twice as if trying to remember then her whole face lit up.

"I'm helping Robbie to buy new pants for Rex. He needs new ones but doesn't want to shop in a toy store so Robbie is going to surprise him." She explained with a satisfied smile. It was so nice when Robbie had asked her for help. People did that so seldom. Tori and Beck looked around but couldn't see Robbie anywhere and there were no toy stores close by. Tori looked at Beck with some concern.

"Where is Robbie?" She carefully asked her absentminded friend. Cat's eyes grew larger than usual as she frantically looked around.

"Oh my, I lost him!" She turned around and hurried back in the direction she had come from. "Have a nice date!" Cat yelled back at them while running.

"We are not…" Tori began to correct their quickly retreating friend but she was already out of earshot. She turned back to Beck looking slightly worried.

"So she thinks we are on a date. It's not like she's going to tell anyone." Beck told her trying to sound casual. He was wondering why Tori would care if Cat thought they were on a date.

"Yeah you're right." Tori agreed and returned to her pastry. They continued their conversation but part of Beck couldn't help but wonder. Why would Tori be concerned about people thinking they were dating. Was she worried to seem unavailable? Was she interested in someone else? What if he ended up waiting too long? Later on when he was dropping her off at her place he walked her to the door.

"It was a nice day Tori. You can call me any time for a ride – payment or not." Beck told her as she was opening the front door. They were standing right next to each other. Their eyes met and Beck could swear he could see some expectation in hers. Just as the pull of her lips began to override his caution Mrs. Vega walked up to them and greeted him.

"I will." Tori replied waking from a trance of her own. He said goodbye and walked off.

**A.N. Reviews, suggestions and critiques are more than welcome. I had to reload the chapter - some words were missing.**


	14. The Show Is Back

**A.N. Yes I got the idea from Victoria Justice's interview she gave at the beginning of the second season.**

**The Show Is Back**

On Monday Beck came to school in a wonderful mood. There were several reasons for that. There was the residual pleasure of the day spend with Tori. Upon reflection he had decided to focus on the fun they had and on that promising, in his mind at least, moment they had shared in the end of the ride and to forget about the date denial with Cat. After all she had told the truth, they hadn't been on a date. There was also the fact that this morning no Northridge girls had shown up to ask for a drive. On the way to class André caught up with him.

"Cat's telling me you had a date this Saturday." He asked nonchalantly. Beck shrugged in return.

"You know that in was just giving Tori a ride." If he were to take a girl on a date it wouldn't include shopping. Even one as fun as the one he had with Tori.

"I know. That's why I was so surprised to hear Little Red tell a story about you two on a romantic lunch feeding each other pie." That stopped Beck in his tracks. Just what he needed - Cat to inadvertently start a rumor about him and Tori.

"What! There was nothing like that." They had ordered different pies so both tasted each other's. Both had used their own fork and there had been no mutual feeding involved.

"Well you know Cat, she lives half here and half in a world of her own." Andre had known that the explanation was almost certainly prosaic but it was so much fun to see the usually unflappable Beck get all flustered. It serves him right for needling André for his romantic misadventures.

"Yeah you're probably right. It's just Cat and her crazy stories." Beck tried to dismiss his initial worries.

"Still you might want to clear it to Jade before she does something." Andre sensibly pointed out.

"Why would she care? We are not together anymore." Jade had been nothing but hostile after the break up, not exactly the behavior of a girl still harboring feelings for her ex. Their interaction had become somewhat normal only after the two of them got roles in the TV show. Beck had begun hoping that with time they could be friends again.

"Of course she doesn't care. She was recreating Dirty Dancing with that guy at the party because she liked him so much." The words were said with such a tone that Beck didn't even need to look at his friend to see his eyes rolling.

"Okay I'll talk to her. There is no need abuse sarcasm." Great now he had to defuse another potential Jade bomb. After the first class he found Jade on the stairs in the main hallway. She was sitting reading something on her phone. With some amusement Beck observed that some of the guys were throwing her cautious appreciative glances. He could understand them. Jade was dressed in a short pleated black skirt with black opaque tights and her favorite combat boots. The combination accentuated and drew the admiring eyes of the passing males to her supple legs. Immersed in her reading with her face absent her usual hostile expression she looked beautiful. Beck involuntarily remembered some of the good times they've had. He had to admit that he missed them sometimes. Standing here looking at her and observing the way some guys were looking at her something struck him. He would always cherish the memories of these times with Jade but at this moment he could honestly say that he didn't want them back. He walked up to and greeted her.

"Well if it's not Casanova. Where is your new sweetheart? Buying you a pie?" The sarcasm couldn't quite hide the bitterness in her voice. Beck winced inwardly. It was going to be one of those conversations.

"I was just Tori's ride. She is giving me lessons in Biology and in return I'm giving her a ride when she needs one since she doesn't have a license." He explained calmly. Despite everything they always came to this.

"How convenient this is for you both." Her caustic words stirred a familiar anger in him. Anger he hated. Over the last several months of their relationship it had slowly poisoned the love he had felt for her. Despite her words she believed him. If there was something she had learned about Beck it was that he would never lie to her even if she couldn't always bring herself to believe him.

"What do you care who I spend my time with anyway. We are not together anymore." He knew that he was slipping into the usual bickering mode with Jade.

"I don't care. You can date all the Northridge girls that ask you to drive them if you want to." She didn't really mean it but being angry with Beck for breaking up with her was better than the alternative. That it was her fault. That she had chased him away. It was better than being angry with herself.

"If you don't care, then you could stop being mad at me." His words stopped them both. Now they were just looking one another at a loss. That's how Tori found them facing one another on the stairs. Beck saw her first while she was hurriedly walking down the stairs. He couldn't help but smile in her presence. He didn't even notice the look on Jade's face while she was observing the changes in his expression.

"What are you doing guys?" Tori cautiously asked them noticing the strange tension between the two.

"It's none of your business Vega." The pretty brunette ignored Jade's biting reply. She waved around excitedly her phone.

"Have you checked your phones?" Beck pulled his phone. There was a new message from an unknown number.

"No. What is it?" Jade asked while checking for new messages on her phone.

"We got a text from the producer of the show." Tori announced unable to hold back any longer.

"It got picked up?" Jade and Beck looked at each other and at Tori forgetting the argument they just had.

"Yes, it got an initial order for a twelve episodes. He wants us to come over this Saturday for a meeting with him and the writers." Smiles covered their faces. They've done it. They were going to be on TV. Jade didn't even protest when Tori pulled her and Beck in a celebratory embrace.

**A.N. Reviews, suggestions and critiques are more than welcome.**


	15. Meeting With The Writers

**A.N. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. Cheysma don't worry he will tell her, I just want to torture him a bit more.**

**Meeting with the writers **

On Saturday morning Beck woke up on time, not too early and not too late. It pleased him since when they shot the pilot he woke up either too early out of excitement or he overslept after being unable to fall asleep the previous night. His composure I the face of everything was something he was proud of so he was glad to have it back. After breakfast he drove off to pick up the girls. First he picked up Jade. She would have taken her car but he step-mom had borrowed it after her own had broken down. On the way to Tori's house they didn't talk to each other except for a couple of feeble attempts at small talk. After their confrontation on the stairs they had successfully avoided fighting. The problem was that they seemed to have forgotten how to talk to one another without it. The feeling of being unable to talk to the person you were in love with only couple of months ago seemed to have made Jade so uncomfortable that Beck could have sworn she looked glad to see Tori walking down to join them.

"Are you guys as excited as I am?" Asked them the smiling brunette barely seated in the back. Beck smiled and nodded while Jade just rolled her eyes.

"Yes Vega we tremble with excitement." She replied in an even flat tone. Beck understood why she seemed glad to see Tori. Jade was just looking for someone to have a little fight with.

"Okay Miss Cranky-Pants why aren't you exited?" Tori asked in her put-up-on voice. Beck gave her a look in the mirror to not let Jade get to her. Tori winked at him to let him know that she knew what she was doing.

"What's so exiting about a silly teen show on a small network that wants me to be a cheerleader? And to top it off I have to work with you." Jade was winding herself up.

"Oh I like you too Jade!" Tori replied in her sweetest voice which prompted Jade to glower at her. As much as he was enjoying the girls Bugs and Daffy routine Beck turned on the radio to distract them. It turned out that they liked many of the same songs. Finally they reached the same building in which they were for the call back audition. This time they climbed on a higher floor. It was better decorated and had conference rooms and offices of various executives. An assistant showed them in one of the conference rooms where the producer and the two writers waited for them. The producer greeted them smiling and invited them to sit on the comfortable chairs around an impressive looking mahogany table. They had barely seated when the assistant returned with a whole cart full of different nonalcoholic beverages for them to choose from. After he made sure they all had a glass or a cup in front of them the producer turned to them.

"As you know was picked up and we are going to begin shooting twelve episodes in a couple of weeks." He seemed immensely pleased with that. "What's more important to you is that the test audience and the focus groups liked you characters the most out of all the secondary ones." Now it was Beck's, Tori's and Jade's turn to exchange exited glances. "So we are going to retain you for a number of episodes." This was beginning to sound better and better to Beck. "You Tori are going to be featured in seven episodes. You, Beck and Jade, are going to be in six each." Beck was very happy, he was hoping for four episodes. Six was amazing. He was going to be almost a regular. "Our legal department has already drafted the necessary paperwork that we'll have to go over with your parents. But I can tell you that we'll pay you fifteen hundred each per episode and your work for the show will count for extracurricular activity and will earn you an extra credit in school. Do you have any questions?" The three friends were too overwhelmed to come up with any question. "Now I'm going to leave you with two of our writers. They will discuss with you what ideas they have for your characters." He congratulated them warmly and after biding them goodbye left the room. The two writers who introduced themselves as Jill and Thomas gave them small folders with what they called characters' background. As they were skipping thru them Thomas addressed Tori.

"Now Tori we liked very much your rapport with Britt and the friendly chemistry between your characters." Tori smiled happily at his words. Beck knew she liked making friends and was pretty good at it. "We've decided to build on that. Through your character we'll ease hers into the new school. We don't want to use you just for exposition so you'll have your own storyline with Beck. Basically he'll try to flirt with you but you won't trust him at first since he has never paid any attention to you before." Beck and Tori exchanged exited glances. They had guessed right that there will be such a storyline. "We will flesh out the story later as e go on. Do you have any questions?" He looked her expectantly after he finished.

Tori asked few questions and then it was Jade's turn Jill explained to her that her character will be the voice of moderation in the clique of Kirsten Prout's character. Kirsten was playing the head cheerleader. That wasn't exactly what Jade was hoping to hear but her mood brighten up when Jill told her that probably later on her character will become darker. Beck could tell that she was dying to share her ideas about the character's development with the writers but knew that they probably wouldn't appreciate the input of a high school student too much, so for once she kept her opinion to herself and just asked few clarifying questions.

When Beck's turn came Thomas dropped the bomb that his probable flirt with Tori will actually be a triangle – with Jade whose character was supposed to have a thing for his character. All three of them managed to keep their expressions neutral at that revelation. Beck saw never the less that Jade gripped her chair's armrest so tingly that her knuckles turned white. In Beck's opinion this was too similar to the storyline between the main characters and seemed like a lazy writing but he kept that to himself. The rest of what the writers told him about his character seemed good. He was cool but nice guy with a good heart. His main flaw seemed to be that he was willing to follow his friends' suggestions even when he knew that they were wrong. Beck made a mental note to brush up on his surfing skills. He wanted to look competent when the need arises.

After they finished and the writers promised to send them the first scripts soon the trio left the conference room and headed out. Once out of the building Jade was the first to speak out and break their overwhelmed silence.

"Well, that was interesting." She gave Tori a hard look. "Vega it seems that you will get Beck after all, even if it is only on a TV show." Tori acted like she didn't hear the jealous remark. Beck opted to try and nip that kind of talk in the bud.

"It's good that who I date in the real world or in TV-land in no longer your problem." Jade looked at him with a hurt in her eyes but Beck wanted to make it clear that she won't have any say in his love life anymore. Before they could continue, Tori dragged them both off. She was intended on not letting them ruin her good mood.


	16. Twist in the Story

**Twist in the Story**

It was midday on Thursday. The gang was sitting around their usual table eating lunch. Beck was sitting between Tori and Jade. Across from him Robbie was sitting with Rex between André and Cat. Jade was just telling them how she had met with the writers to talk about their planed storyline for the three of them. She has wanted to do that ever since their meeting with the writers last Saturday. Beck had tried to implore her to be very careful how she expresses her ideas. It would've been a shame if her freshly signed contract was terminated because 'she had expressed her honest opinion' about the writing skills of the head writers. The meeting had been yesterday and as far as he knew none of them was fired but Jade seemed never the less unhappy about the way her meeting had gone.

"I pointed to them politely that our storyline was the same as the one of the main characters and that just the genders were flipped." She glared at Beck as she said 'politely'. She hadn't taken his suggestion that her temper tended to be short very well, which of course only proved his point.

"What happened next, woman?" Rex asked eagerly. Beck suspected that he was inpatient to hear what exactly had gone wrong because Jade's expression implied that something had.

"After they listened to my reasoned and polite arguments" here she somehow gave both Beck and Rex a glare, "Jill and Thomas quietly conversed for a couple of minutes and then told me that I was right." Beck looked at her with surprise. She must've been very convincing to make two professional writers listen to a high school student. Of course he knew that Jade was one of the very few that could do it.

"You mean there won't be a triangle?" Beck had been so looking forward to the possible romantic scenes with Tori. He barely hid his disappointment.

"Oh no, there will be a triangle. They explained to me that romantic triangles are a cornerstone of teen drama shows. But Beck won't be at its centre." Jade continued in her irritated tone. Ah, so here comes the bad part or judging by Rex's excitement the good part. How Robbie managed to make the puppet look gleeful was something Beck could never understand.

"Then who will?" Tori asked with piqued curiosity. Beck knew that she shared his reservations about Jade's meeting but unlike him she had kept them to herself.

"You Vega, you will be the centre of the new triangle." Jade announced dismayed at her own words. Tori looked at her in surprise.

"Who's going to be the third?" Beck wondered aloud. He began mentally go through the other male secondary actors trying to guess who the writers were going to partner him and Tori with.

"I am." Everybody stopped and stared at Jade after she uttered those words. Tori froze with a French fry forgotten in her hand. Beck's eyes moved between her and Jade wondering how was that going to work out. André was valiantly but unsuccessfully trying to hide his grin. Robbie put his hand over Rex's mouth preventing the puppet from saying something that could provoke Jade. Beck guessed that he was tired of having to sew him back together or retrieve him from wherever Jade might toss him. Only Cat looked around confused obviously unsure what Jade had implied.

"But you are a girl." The naïve little redhead pointed out to Jade. Robbie couldn't restrain Rex anymore and the puppet leaned over and whispered quickly something in her ear. Cat's eyes became big as saucers as she wordlessly moved them between her two girl friends. Beck observed that Jade looked at Rex, obviously judging whether it was worth her effort to rip a puppet's limb or just toss him off to the roof.

"Apparently my character is going to have a crisis of her sexuality." She told them instead, deciding that the minor satisfaction wasn't worth the effort of reaching across the table. That and Robbie wisely had put Rex away in his backpack.

"Is my character going to return your affections?" Tori guardedly asked her. Beck guessed that she was wondering if she would be able to play attracted to the girl who has been her bane ever since she had come to Hollywood Arts.

"I don't know. By the time I got out of there they seemed to be leaning on the negative." That seemed to reassure Tori enough for her to return to her fries.

"Maybe your spurned feelings will be the reason you'll go darker later on." Tori tried to find the silver lining for her frenemy. Beck knew that she was sincerely hoping to cheer Jade up but doubted that her effort will bear fruit.

"Oh man!" Just as he suspected Jade buried her head in her folded on the table hands with a frustrated groan. After lunch Beck was walking down the hall when he came upon a worrying sight. Tori was talking to some guy. He had never seen him before. By the way the guy was looking at her and how he was trying to stand as close to her as possible Beck could tell he liked her. That wasn't the part that got Beck worried. Boys were trying their luck with Tori often enough. She was nice girl with inviting manners and usually polite disposition. That meant that unless the guy was truly obnoxious she would at least hear him out. What got Beck worried was that Tori seemed to enjoy the attention of that guy. Suddenly something akin to panic overwhelmed Beck. What if she liked that guy? What if he had waited too long? What if they started dating? Damn André and his sensible advices. He needed to do something or he'll never forgive himself. When the guy finally walked away Beck hurried up to Tori.

"Hey Tori, do you have any plans for tonight?" He asked her nonchalantly. Despite his outer calm he knew that he was about to do something irreversible. To be honest Beck didn't know what that the next thing out of his mouth was going to be. He was making it up as he got along.

"Not really, André and I were supposed to work on a song but something came up with his grandma and he bailed on me. My evening is free." She replied giving him one of her brilliant smiles. Beck loved her smiles. Even back when falling in love with her hadn't crossed his mind her smiles could lift his spirits.

"Would you like to catch a movie with me?" He mentally congratulated himself of the idea. A movie could turn out to be a date or just friendly outing depending on how it was going to go.

"Sure, it'll be fun, at least more fun than watching Trina use another condiment as a skincare product." They shared a laugh over her sister's antics. "Who else is coming?"

"It will be just the two of us." Beck told her automatically, surprised by her question. "The others already had plans." He covered quickly and fervently hoped that she wouldn't be able to check his story.

"Oh, okay then. Where and when do you want to meet?" She asked him while putting her books away.

"I'll pick you up at eight at your house." Beck told her, already making a mental note to fill up the gas tank of his car.

"Alright then I'll be waiting." Tori said before closing her locker and headed to her last class for the day.

"It's a date." Beck called after her. She just smiled at his words and agreed. If only she could knew just how serious he really was.

**A.N. Reviews, suggestions and critiques are more than welcome.**


	17. Non-Date Gone Horribly Right

**Non-Date Gone Horribly Right**

Once he got home Beck began feverish preparations for tonight's date. But how do you prepare for a date when the other person doesn't even know it's a date? After he took care of the easy parts – finishing tomorrow's homework, taking a shower and shaving – came the hard part. Like what to wear. He couldn't be too overdressed – Tori was expecting a simple friendly movie going. He couldn't be too casual either – he was hoping to somehow turn it into something more. In the end he settled on a jeans and a new dark blue shirt. He put on splash of cologne that he had bought after the break up. When he was ready he faced the mirror. The guy in it was handsome as ever but he was also something Beck hasn't been in a long time. He was nervous. His friends would probably laugh at the notion, but the fact was that Beck was actually not very good at flirting. Before he met Jade his good looks were more than enough to get the attention of any girl he wanted, and many that he didn't. With Tori he knew he couldn't rely on his good looks alone. She had already built up a resistance to them over the year they have known each other.

"Well Oliver then you better be damn charming." And now he was talking to himself. Deciding that he was over thinking it too much Beck braced himself, stopped fussing, got in his car and drove to Tori's house. She met him at the door. Much like him Tori had chosen a casually elegant style. He had seen her with these pants and this top at school but the ensemble was never the less remarkable. The combination of the tight pants with her tall boots made her already long slender legs seem like they were going for miles. When she greeted him he caught a trace of her perfume. It wasn't the usual smell of summer flowers but something more exotic.

"Oh honey, are you sure you can't take Trina with you?" came Mr. Vega's pleading voice from inside. Beck vigorously shook his head. Trina was the last thing he needed, especially tonight.

"No dad I can't. There is no place in Beck's car." She hollered back to her father, giving Beck a conspiratorial wink. He just smiled back at her. I wasn't her fault that even her parents didn't want to spend their evening with Trina, very few people would. He could understand them but that didn't mean he was ready to do it for them. Once they reached the car Beck gallantly opened the door for Tori and helped her get in. In return she gave him one of her warm brilliant smiles. He loved those smiles.

"So what movie are we going to see?" asked Tori once they were both in the car.

"Frankly I have no idea. I just wanted go out." He confessed. The truth was that he had been so consumed with worrying how to act on this non-date that he had forgotten to check what movies were showing the at the cinema.

"Oh and you wanted me to keep you company." Tori sounded pleased. Beck decided to take this as an encouraging sign.

"One of the good things to come out of the break up is that I can spend time with you without any of us suffering Jade's wrath." She gave him a careful glance. Beck kicked himself mentally. He had violated one of the rules of dating – not to mention your ex. He furiously thought of a way to quickly change the subject. Thankfully they had just arrived in front of the cinema.

"How about we see a comedy?" Beck proposed pointing at the poster of 'Ted'. Tori's eyes followed his finger and began looking through the posters of the movies the cinema was showing. She seemed to consider them carefully.

"Sure, or we could watch 'LOL'." She said pointing at a poster prominently featuring Miley Cyrus's face. Even Beck's signature unflappability couldn't help him hide the sudden feeling of dread that filled him. "I'm just kidding." Tori burst out laughing after seeing his appalled expression. "You should have seen the horror on our face." He didn't bother to deny it, instead just joint her laughter. The two of them went to buy tickets.

They got in the cool darkened movie theater caring popcorn and small sodas. Beck liked the movie but couldn't fully concentrate on it. He caught himself couple of times staring at Tori's profile illuminated by the silver screen. He found fascinating the way she smiled and laughed at the funny parts, how she would get that soft concerned expression at the more serious scenes. It was probably the crush speaking but he couldn't get enough of her face. Once she nearly caught him staring, he barely managed to look away in time. While Ted was falling ripped apart on the screen Tori grabbed his hand without thinking. Despite how warm her delicate fingers felt against his skin Beck felt goose bumps covering his skin. Their eyes met and for a moment he felt as if it was just the two of them. He couldn't be sure because of the dark cinema but he could swear he saw a blush creeping up her cheeks. Tori tried to let go of his hand but Beck covered her hand with his, astonished by his own boldness. She looked at him with surprise but didn't try to move her hand away. The rest of the movie he didn't venture a look at her, content to just feel the touch of her hand on his. When they got out of the movie theater he proposed they go and get something to eat.

"First a movie, now a dinner – if I didn't know better I would say that this was a date." Tori tried to joke. But her look was somewhat inquiring, dare he think even hopeful. Beck felt that this might have been a good moment to confess, but instead he chickened out.

"Oh come on, I wouldn't call a movie and a burger a date. When I get a girl on a date I am much more elaborate than that." He returned the joke trying to sound casual and frivolous. Tori gave him an amused glance.

"I don't know, it sounds like quite a few of the dates I've been on." She said carelessly. Beck ignored the sudden jab of annoyance that the thought of other guys going on dates with Tori caused. Instead he continued in the same bantering tone.

"That's because you haven't been on a date with the right kind of guy." The matter-of-fact way he said it made Tori smile and even chuckle.

"Considering my dating record you might have a point there." She conceded after considering his words. They had reached a small street vendor that Beck had assured Tori made the best hot-dogs he had tasted, just like the sizable line of people could attest. While they waited for their turn Tori began to wave at someone. Beck turned and saw Robbie walking down the street in their direction. For a change he was out without Rex.

"Hey Rob what are you doing here? I thought you were busy tonight." Tori greeted their friend who seemed pleasantly surprised to see them here.

"No I wasn't. I was home getting bored out of my mind. Rex got so sick of me wondering whether to call Cat or not that he kicked me out of the house. He told me not to come back before I've made up my mind. Then my grandma asked me to help her with something, and now I'm going back home." Beck cringed. He didn't expect his fib to be checked so soon. He had thought he would be able to talk with his friends tomorrow before classes.

"I must've heard wrong." Tori shrugged off. Robbie's long explanation had managed to distract her. "You want to join us for a burger?" Beck relaxed, it was certainly helpful that Tori was not as suspicious or paranoid like Jade.

"Sure, I'd love to…" Robbie agreed before he saw Beck giving him pleading signs behind her back to leave them alone. "But my mom is probably waiting for me. I didn't want to interrupt your date." Robbie bid them a clumsy and hasty goodbye, probably wondering what has gotten into Beck. Beck silently promised him to explain everything later, hoping he hadn't hurt his friend's feelings.

"That was a little strange." Tori said while watching Robbie walking away.

"You know how Robbie is." Beck nonchalantly replied. Their turn had finally come and he ordered her a hot-dog with everything and one with extra hot mustard for himself. After the first bite Tori agreed that this was the best hot-dog she'd ever tasted.

"Yes I know but it was odd even for him." Tori returned to Robbie's reaction after they got back to Beck's car. "He is the second one to think we are on a date." She continued, clearly remembering Cat's reaction. Beck cast a hesitant glance in her direction but was unable to gauge whether their friends assumptions were troubling or welcome to her.

"Maybe they think we'd make a good couple." He ventured hopefully. Tori cast a surprised glance at him. He could see various emotions struggling in her eyes until she settled in something he could only describe as bitter-sweet resignation.

"I doubt Jade would share that opinion." Beck perked up at her response, especially at her tone. That sounded promising. Maybe it was only the other's opinion that stopped her.

"Maybe it's not up to her anymore." His words caused Tori to cast a surprised glance at him.

"What are you trying to say Beck?" She tentatively asked him. He had a minute to consider his next words since they had arrived at Vega's house and he needed a few moments to park. Once they've stopped Beck turned to Tory and looked her in the eyes. These warm brown eyes looked at him with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension. Surprisingly for him he still needed a second more before he was able to continue.

"Maybe your opinion is the only one that matters to me." He finally said. This was it. The moment he hoped for and dreaded. His hart began beating faster and he could feel small beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

"What about yours?" Tori cautiously replied but he could feel that she was consciously holding back, her eyes carefully studding his face, trying to guess his intentions. Unconsciously she had leaned closer. Beck's gaze focused on her lips. They were slightly parted, glistening softly with her lip gloss.

"Do you even have to ask?" Beck replied leaning forward. He didn't know what came over him. Probably it was the age old male instinct that told him that this was the moment to take his chance. He leaned further, closing the gap between them until their lips met. Tori's eyes widened with surprise. She stood there frozen for two seconds, enough for the doubt to sneak in Beck's mind. Then her arms shot up and grabbed his head. The kiss became deeper and needy. They both dived into it like parched dessert traveler dives for the water. It was better than the kiss on her second day at Hollywood Arts; it was better than the one he had stolen while she was sleeping, it was one of the best he had ever had. Just as his hand rested on her shoulder and began sliding down Tori recoiled back as if woken up from a trance.

"I – I'll have to think about it." She mumbled almost incoherently before bolting franticly from the car toward her front door. She left in such a hurry that she left behind her purse and a dazed and confused Beck with smudged lip gloss on his lips. It tasted like strawberry.


	18. Kisses And Heartache In the Closet

**Kisses And Heartache In the Closet**

Beck woke up the next day still confused by the finale of his non date with Tori. He hadn't planned the kiss but she had returned it and very enthusiastically at that. He vividly remembered the pleasant numbness her hot lips left on his. On the other hand she had run out of his car and hadn't returned any of his dozen calls and messages. But it was time for school and she couldn't avoid him there. When he arrived at Hollywood Arts Beck looked around for her but couldn't seem to find her anywhere.

"Who or what are you looking for?" André's question interrupted his search. Under normal circumstances the bright colorful shirt his friend was wearing would have elicit interest, questions and even mockery from Beck, but today it didn't even register.

"I'm looking for Tori. Have you seen her?" André raised his eyebrows at his uncommonly agitated best friend.

"I see your Tori-fever hasn't let up. I saw her come this morning but not since. We have different first period." He informed Beck. "What Happened?" He was intrigued what could get Beck so agitated. He could swear his friend had just squirmed at the question.

"I can't tell you." Beck attempted evading his friend's obviously growing curiosity but instead only inflamed it.

"What happened? Did you kiss her again?" André joked before seeing his friend's suddenly guilty expression. "Oh, you did, didn't you? Was she at least conscious this time?" He didn't know whether to laugh at or feel for his friend. Tori had definitely gotten under his skin, and was making him wonky.

"Yes she was and I don't want to talk about it right now." Beck said turning away from André, trying to resume his search and avoid for now the good-natured but still annoying teasing that was definitely coming his way.

"Alright but you'll have a lot of explaining to do." Andre called after him leaving him to stew in his own worries for now. Beck had begun to think that Tori had fled the school when a soft but startlingly strong hand pulled him in the janitor's closet. What was his surprise when he saw the girl he has been looking for all morning stand before him with a very serious look on her face? Just moments ago he'd wanted to ask her so many questions but now when she was before him all the questions evaporated and all he could do was gaze at her. She was giving him a stern look that gave her eyes a very charming spark and her decisively crossed arms framed her breasts, hidden under her thin shirt, in a most delightful way.

"What were you thinking kissing me like that?" Tori asked him accusingly. "I thought we were out just as friends and all of a sudden you sprung that on me." Her tone confused and even concerned him. Beck knew that the kiss had surprised her but he didn't expect hostility, not after the passion with which she had returned it, at least at first.

"I wasn't planning on kissing you. It just happened, but…" He tried to explain with some embarrassment.

"But what?" Tori interrupted him making a half step forward. That brought her close enough for him to involuntary inhale deeper. Even in the closet smelling of cleaning supplies he could feel her sweet scent. He didn't know whether it was his hormone or her pheromones or may it was just his crush talking but it made him all tingly inside.

"You know I've liked you ever since I've met you." He replied capturing he gaze. She involuntary razed her hand as if to touch him but stopped halfway.

"Yes, liked me as a friend." It was more a plea than a statement. She made a reluctant step backward shifting her eyes away from his.

"At first – sure but lately it has been as much more than a friend, Tori." His voice became quiet and passionate.

"What are you saying, Beck?" Tori almost stammered and swallowed nervously.

"I like you Tori. I like you very much. Lately I've been unable to stop thinking about you, about your smile, about your eyes, about your voice." He made a step forward his intense eyes holding her chocolate ones captive. She didn't try to move away and tilted her face upward still keeping their eyes locked. Beck leaned in and their lips meeting. At fist the kiss was tentative and tender but soon it grew fiercer, more passionate. His hands pulled her body closer while her hands tugged his head down. Beck moaned when her tongue pushed in to lightly touch his. They finally separated panting, their pupils dilated. Tori came first to her senses and pushed him away.

"What are we doing? You can't think about me like that Beck, you mustn't." Her voice was pleading.

"Why shouldn't I?" Beck protested. "You can't tell me you don't feel anything for me. I may have started this kiss but you were the one who returned it." His voice was expressing his frustration. He couldn't understand why she was fighting what they both obviously wanted.

"I wasn't thinking. You surprised me." Tori exclaimed without refuting his words, trying to convince her as much as him. "I had time to come to my senses and I don't see how we could date." Beck shook his head in disagreement.

"Why can't we?" He implored his hands capturing hers.

"You know why. You are Jade's ex and I can't just begin to date a friend's ex." Her voice was filled with quiet resignation.

"Why not! I know you want to spare Jade's feelings but what about ours." He admired her good heart and concern for the others; it made him want to be with her even more. "Don't we deserve to be happy? Don't you like me Tori?" At the moment though he wished that she could be more concerned with her own wants and less with that of others.

"That's not the point Beck." She exasperatedly tried to explain to him. "How can I enjoy those feelings when I know that every day she sees us together will cause Jade pain."

"What about the pain of not being together will cause me, will cause us? You know I'm not the jealous type but when a saw you yesterday with that guy I was filled with dread and panicked." He implored her once again. "I've never felt like that before."

"I can't Beck. You have no idea how much I wish I could but I simply can't." Her chocolate eye began filling with tears. "It is better we stop now before anybody gets hurt." She pushed past him and got out of the janitor's closet.

"It's too late for that, Tori." Beck quietly whispered his eyes never leaving her retreating form.

**A.N. Happy new year to everyone.**


	19. A Cunning Plan

**A Cunning Plan**

At the end of the school hours Beck was sitting on the hood of his car feeling uncharacteristically sorry for himself. Tori's rejection had hit him hard. He took some comfort in the knowledge that she did like him back. But the main point was that she still had run way. He had no idea how to fix this situation or how to deal with it. At first he thought about talking to Jade but he doubted it would do any good. Even if Jade were to assure Tori that it was alright by her Tori would probably not believe her. After all she had assured Cat that she didn't have problem with her and Daniel. She was even sincere and still she had freaked out. That was the condition Robbie found him in. Beck didn't even notice him before he spoke.

"Hi Beck, I asked are you waiting for someone?" His voice startled Beck who turned to see his curly headed friend standing beside his car looking at him curiously.

"No, I was just thinking." Beck replied while straightening up.

"Thinking about what?" Robbie prodded again curious about what could have preoccupied his friend to such a degree.

"I have girl trouble." Beck admitted after some hesitation. He owed Robbie some explanation for his behavior yesterday anyway.

"You have a girl troubles?" The skepticism in Robbie's words was hard to miss. He had always admired Beck for the way he could talk to girls and envied the way they reacted to him. For Beck to have troubles with a girl seamed unconceivable to Robbie.

"Yes, even I have them." Beck was slightly amused by Robbie's apparent faith in his ability to woo girls.

"No no, I was surprised because I have girl troubles too." Robbie quickly recovered.

"I thought things with Cat were going well." Beck could admit that he hadn't paid much attention to what his friends were up to lately. He knew that Robbie had persisted in his quest to get Cat interested in him, but had no idea if his friend has had any success.

"She is sending me mixed signals." Robbie complained while hopping on the hood of the car next to Beck. "Couple of days ago we went for ice cream. She loves ice cream. As we ate it she got some of it on her nose. She looked so adorable that before I could stop to think I licked her nose. She just smiled at me and giggled in her adorable way. But when at the end of our 'date' I tried to kiss her she just runs away." Beck winced sympathetically and patted his friend on the back. "How am I supposed to understand this? Why are girls so perplexing?" Robbie's last words were more like a plea than a question. Still Beck felt obliged to try and cheer him up a bit.

"Just hang in there Robbie. It's obvious that Cat likes you so eventually she'll come around." He felt reasonably confident in his assertion. While it was often hard to tell what exactly was going on in Cat's pretty little red head she seemed to genuinely like the awkward ventriloquist.

"You really think so?" Robbie instantly perked up at his friend's words. Before Beck could respond someone else joined them. Andre who has just leaving after finishing his Advanced Music class saw them sitting there and decided to say hi.

"What are you two doing sitting here inn that empty parking lot? The classes have been over for an hour." He was obviously wondering what had brought the gloomy mood his two friends were in.

"We are commiserating our woes with women." Beck responded giving him a lopsided grin. Andre nodded understandingly.

"That's because you two take dating way too seriously. What are your woes?" He said in mock seriousness. Beck gave him an annoyed look, they couldn't all fall in and out of love every two weeks like him. Beck's annoyance just made André's grin widen.

"Tori rejected me because dating me would hurt Jade and our friendship with her too much." Beck explained his situation and then motioned to their curly friend. "Robbie here had tried to kiss Cat but she had run away."

"Tough brake Rob, but hang in there – she is probably just scared of the change it will bring to your relationship." While Robbie's romantic misadventures were usually spectacularly hilarious André hoped he would get luckier soon.

"Alright it is a sound advice. What do you have for me, Oh Wise One?" Beck remarked sarcastically.

"If Tori's main objection is that it will hurt Jade then wait until she starts dating someone." Beck's initial surge of enthusiasm quickly subsided when he gave it some thought.

"There is a small problem with your solution – nobody in this school is brave enough to date Jade." He pointed out the obvious big fault in André's proposal.

"Too bad your fiend Moose can't visit from Canada. Jade seemed to like him well enough." André remarked laughing. The other two weren't so amused. They remembered how all three girls had chased after Beck's tall buff friend. They, especially Robbie, did not need that kind of distraction.

"There is always Sinjin." Robbie helpfully added remembering the strange boy's longtime obsession with Jade.

"He is not brave. He is suicidal obsessed." André pointed out.

"We will consider Sinjin our 'Plan Z'." Back remarked with vague politeness, which flew right above Robbie's head. "André are you willing to volunteer?" He addressed André.

"No, that was temporary insanity." André quickly and categorically refused. "What about someone from the show you three work on. Jade has to be on her best behavior there. You can dupe some sucker long enough for Tori to drop her objections."

"Aside from your chose of words to describe Jade's potential boyfriend the idea might not be bad." Beck replied slowly, liking the idea more and more as he thought about it. "After all if Jade has someone then Tori wouldn't be so worried about hurting her feelings."

"Well that's settled then, let's get something to drink. You are driving." André remarked and all three of the guys climbed in the car. As he was driving Beck already was mentally going through the guys on the show for suitable candidates.


	20. Jade Gets a Date

**Jade Gets a Date**

"You've been acting strange lately." Jade remarked looking carefully at Beck. She occupied the seat next to him in his car. They were on their way to the set of the show. Since Tori didn't have any scenes today it was only the two of them. Her car was unavailable again and Beck had easily agreed to give her a lift when she mentioned it.

"What do you mean?" He gave her a quick appraising glance. She was wearing her usual darkly colored outfit but without any of her makeup since they were going to putt some on her for the scenes.

"I don't know exactly. You seem preoccupied. The last few days whenever you and Vega are together, there is some sort of tension between the two of you." Jade observed him carefully looking for a clue.

"Do we? I haven't noticed. Even if we were why would you care?" Beck sounded perfectly careless and a little teasing in the end. She was right of course, there had been an uncomfortable tension with Tori whenever they were in a room together no matter how they had tried to hide it, but such line of questioning in Beck's opinion could lead only to trouble.

"I don't care; I just think there is something going on." Jade turned forward with a huff.

"You just want to find some drama now that you can't obsess over my imaginary infidelities." Beck teased her. He knew that it would distract her from asking questions about him and Tori.

"I most definitely do not." Jade gave him a withering look before continuing with a falsely indifferent tone. "And I am not convinced that they were entirely imaginary, especially with Vega."

"You know what I think? I think you are just antsy because you hadn't been on a date since Moose." Beck didn't take the bait and instead reminded her about the only time he had seen her go boy-crazy. "If that could even be called a date, you practically kidnapped him."

"I don't remember him complaining." She hated to be reminded about that incident. Her behavior then had been so contrary to her carefully maintained aloof image that she still cringed every time she was reminded of it, even if it had felt good to beat Tori in the end.

"I think he was just glad to come back in one piece." Actually Moose had said that after Jade had calmed down he have had some fun. Beck remembered that he'd been a little jealous when he learned that Jade had kissed his childhood friend. Now it had turned into an amusing story to tease Jade with.

"Are you telling me I scare boys off?" She indignantly asked.

"I wouldn't dare telling you such a thing." Beck recoiled in feigned terror. For the rest of the journey she demonstratively gave him the silent treatment but he could tell that it was more for show. When they arrived they were quickly taken in by the flurry of activity that was the set of a TV show. After he finished shooting a scene in which he was talking to Matthew's character while maintaining his board Beck made a mental note to make sure he still remembered enough surfing so he would look like he knows what he's doing. Couple of hours in and he had all but forgotten about the Jade plan when tall blond guy approached him during one of the breaks. He just like Beck was playing one of the guys on the surfing team.

"Hey man, can I ask you something." Began the guy whose name Beck remembered was Ben. "You know that chick that plays cheerleader, the one with the nice black hair and pale skin. With the big…"

"You mean Jade?" Beck interrupted him before he could make a meaningful gesture. "Yes, I know her. We are friends." Ben had the decency to look embarrassed by what he had been about to do.

"Yeah her, do you know if she has a boyfriend?" Beck didn't know much about this guy but Jade was a girl who could take care of herself and Beck didn't feel he was in a position to look the gift horse in the mouth.

"No, she's single." Beck's quick response seemed to pique Ben's interest. "Why, are you interested in her?"

"Yes I am. There is something very alluring about her." Ben said throwing appreciative glance in Jade's direction. She was walking through the lot towards the catering table. Beck had to admit that she looked very good in her character's clothes, although Jade never would voluntarily wear such vibrant colors. "Can you give me any advice? What should I expect?"

"Be yourself and be prepared to watch a lot of horror movies." Beck said after swallowing couple of decidedly unhelpful remarks. To his satisfaction the latter part didn't seem to discourage Ben in the slightest.

"So she likes horror movies. Perfect, they provide a great opportunity for a make out." Beck had to do his very best to keep his expression neutral. If this guy thought that Jade was going to huddle in his arms in fear, he was in for a big surprise. "Is there any movie that she particularly likes?" The blond boy asked while throwing another glance at Jade. She had just taken her bottle of water from the catering table after giving a scuttling look to some extra who had tried to cut the line.

"Yes – 'the Scissoring'" that was an easy question. Beck must have watched that movie dozens of times since it was one of the few things that could lift Jade's spirit when she got in one of her fouler moods.

"Hey, I know that movie!" Ben grinned and nodded enthusiastically.

"Then you should be alright. You have an icebreaker, go and good luck." He stood back and watched as Ben approached Jade. After her initial reserved response Beck could see that Ben was trying to strike up a conversation while Jade was giving him short curt answers. Then she saw him observing them and narrowed her eyes in his direction. Then she began smiling at Ben and nodding encouragingly at him. After they finished Ben walked off giving Beck a thumbs up. Jade sauntered up to Beck with a satisfied smirk on her full ruby lips.

"Ha, and you thought I couldn't get a date." She looked really pleased with herself. Beck made an effort to look properly chastised.

"My mistake, I didn't really mean to imply that you can't." Beck said with voice filled with remorse. He managed to hide how pleased he was. "Where is he going to take you?"

"We'll go to Karaoke Dokie. I prefer a familiar terrain for a first date." Beck suspected she was more nervous than she let on. After all the last real first date she was on was with him, three years ago.

"I'm sure you'll have fun." He replied encouragingly. She gave him the 'of course I will' look and walked off. Now he just had to somehow convince Tori to give him another shot.


	21. A Welcomed Visit

**A Welcomed Visit**

After he dropped off Jade Beck drove home. Once there he parked his car and got in the house to take a shower. He needed to wash off the remaining make up and powder not to mention the sweat one can work up after shooting scenes for six hours in the blistering Californian sun. After the shower, refreshed and with still damp hair he headed to his RV. He was clad only in his boxers since most on his clothes were in his RV. When he reached the drive way he noticed that someone was waiting him there. It was a girl. For a second he thought that it was one of the girls who showed up in the mornings to ask him to 'give them a ride to school'. Since his break up with Jade one of them would show up at least once a week to ask him on a date. Thankfully a polite but firm refusal was usually enough get rid of them. To his surprise the girl who was nervously pacing in front of his RV was Tori. She was dressed in her usual jeans and boots with a simple dark red t-shirt.

"Tori, what are you doing here?" His voice cased her to sharply turn to face him but not a word came out of her lips. In his surprise to see her Beck had forgotten that he was dressed only in his boxers. Tori's surprised gaze traveled slowly down from Beck's face to his toned bare chest. Her eyes continued downwards to his smooth abs and stopped only when they reached his black boxers. The sight of Beck's underwear seemed to have brought Tori out of her reverie and she embarrassedly turned her face away from him. The strong blush that quickly covered her cheeks filled Beck with a strange satisfaction. After all the times when he had guiltily stared at her, afraid what she might think of him if she caught him, it was nice to know that he too could make her blush.

"Oh I didn't know you were… naked." She embarrassedly stammered, the last word coming out as barely a whisper.

"I was just coming out of the shower and all my clean clothes are in the RV." He explained still enjoying her obvious blushing at his state of undress. He walked up to the RV's door, a mere foot from where she was standing. "You wanna come in?" Beck smiled at her politely before opening widely the door.

"Yes, I need to speak with you." Tori's voice was much more composed but he could see the blush still coloring her perfect cheeks. He stepped in first before turning back to her.

"Come in then." He motioned her in. She gingerly squeezed past him. He was so distracted by the smell of summer flowers emanating from her that he didn't notice the way her eyes secretly lingered on his naked muscled chest. Once inside Tori sat on his made up bed while he put on a jeans and a t-shirt. Beck observed with the corner of his eye that while he was putting on his clothes Tori was watching the things hanging on his wall with fascination they definitely didn't merit. He didn't have the opportunity to see how Tori gave in to temptation and snuck a peek or two at him.

"You want something to drink?" He asked her after he got dressed pointing to the recent addition to the RV's interior – his mini fridge. He had decided to get one after the harrowing beach trip they had in their junior year, he could still sweat at the memory. She shook her head and refused. He sat on the other end of the bed waiting patiently for her to say why she had come to see him.

"Listen Beck, I think I owe you more of an explanation about my behavior during our encounter in the janitor's closet." She began obviously still feeling uncomfortable. Her eyes, wary of meeting his, jumped from one thing to the other on his wall.

"No you don't need to do it Tori. I'm going to be honest here. I didn't like the rejection but I understand and admire your reasons for it." He reassured her sincerely. "One of the things I like most about you is that you are so loyal to the people you consider your friends." Even if at the moment that quality of hers was causing him heartache, it still made him want even more to be with her.

"I feel like I owe it to you to explain myself." She insisted, giving him a grateful smile and looking him in the eyes for the first time since coming in the RV. "Dao you remember when Cat dated my ex – Daniel."

"I remember it." He remembered the vague mix of envy and pity he felt for the boy when he had learned that he was Tori's ex-boyfriend. "I remember Jade taunting you, you spraying them with cheese and that horrible fishes that got us sick." The fishes were unpleasant reminder that beauty wasn't worth going through some things. He still couldn't look at anchovies the same way.

"I remember how frustrated and annoyed it made me feel to watch my ex being lovey-dovey with my friend. It made me do things I regret to this day." Beck saw a shadow of disappointment mire her lovely face at the memory. "I didn't even like Daniel anymore back then. Can you imagine how much worse it would make Jade feel?" Her eyes pleaded for his understanding. He didn't know what to tell her so he could change her mind, until an idea came to him.

"I don't know Tori; I think there was something else." He began slowly, unsure where he was going with this but feeling he was on to something. "I think what really bothered you back then was that your ex had found somebody and you were still alone. It wasn't so much that he was with Cat in front of you but that you didn't have someone yourself." Beck remembered thinking something along those lines when Jade had gloated that she had known that Tori was up to no good at the time.

"So you think that I wasn't actually jealous of Danny and Cat but of the love that I lacked?" A hopeful smile adorned Tori's beautiful lips and lit her chocolate eyes. She shifted ever so slightly towards him.

"Yes, I think that if you had someone you would have been perfectly fine with them dating and being affectionate around you." Encouraged by her smile Beck closed the distance between them until they were sitting only a foot away.

"You really think so?" The relief had transformed her face. It was almost like she was glowing in the dim light filling his RV.

"I feel certain that this was the real reason." He looked her in the eyes, enjoying their soft chocolate glow. "You said it yourself – you didn't have feelings for Daniel so it couldn't have been jealousy." His hand slid slowly up hers trying to reassure her. "I think you were just missing the feeling of someone beside you. Someone to be able appreciate your beauty, the kindness of your heart, your amazing talent, your brilliant smile." He cupped her blushing cheek and leaned in closer. His voice dropped to a whisper while his eyes fell to Tori's parted lips. "Someone who would cherish all the love you could give." Tori surprised him when she closed the last few inches and kissed him. It was a gentle kiss – tentative and full of promise. Their lips softly glided over each other as if they were both trying to put to memory the shape and feel of the others lips. Beck couldn't remember kissing someone quite like this before. It wasn't a quick peck on the lips or a passionate French kiss. It was something fragile and yet secure. It was a promise for the things to come and something to luxuriate in and enjoy at its own pace. The minutes slowly ticked away with the two of them unwilling and unable to break the spell. In the end it was Tori's phone that shattered the illusion of timelessness and forced them to stop. She didn't even look at it, their eyes unable to part for a few sweet moments more.

"We need to stop doing this." She silenced his protest with a finger across his lips. "At least until I've had a chance to speak with Jade." He nodded resignedly, she was of course right. He had waited for so long he could wait a few days more. The promise in that kiss was going to keep him strong. They sat and talked for another hour compensating for the awkward week behind them. The sun was slowly setting when they finally parted.


	22. In The Dragon's Den I

**A.N. This is my first attempt to write from a female point of view so I would appreciate any and all feedback from you.**

**In The Dragon's Den I**

When Tori left Beck's RV she was fully resolved to talk to Jade as soon as possible. Her resolve was fueled by what had just transpired between her and Beck. She could still feel the touch of his lips on hers and it brought a smile on her face. Tori had always thought of herself as a sensible girl, at least as sensible as a seventeen year old can be. She was perfectly aware that her crush on Beck had begun the moment their eye had met, after she had crashed into him spilling his coffee. She remembered that it had felt like falling but without the fear of the crash. Then his girlfriend had shown up, because of course a guy like him would have a girlfriend. It had taken a week or two to rein in her crush and they had become fast friends, much to the displeasure of Jade. She came to know and love all his wonderful qualities. He was calm, level headed and mature for his age. He was very protective of his friends. Tori especially loved that he could get along with everybody and feel at home in any company. In the last two years she had begun to think of him as her second closest friend. In the meantime she had managed to bury her crush deep in her heart. Her rational side had convinced her that it was no use pinning after someone you can't have. She was happy with his friendship and his company. When he and Jade broke up a small voice had whispered to her to give it a try but she was too afraid to ruin the friendships she had with Beck and Jade, so Tori had quieted that voice. She was just happy to be able to spend more time with him now that he was single.

Then all her happy content was shattered when Beck kissed her after their movie date. It opened the floodgates of feelings she had thought long buried and forgotten. After she had recovered from the initial shock her cautious side prevailed. She convinced herself that Beck was just lonely and had given in to a momentary attraction. After the second kiss all that conviction had disappeared. He liked her. He wanted to be with her. The only thing stopping Tori was the thought of Jade. She was pretty sure that angry pale girl still had feelings for Beck and Tori didn't want to do that to her sort of friend. The hurt in Beck's eyes after her rejection had haunted her for the next days. The awkwardness between them was killing her so she had gone to his home to try and make him understand her reasons and hopefully make things right between them. Now after that magical third kiss Tori was walking away with firm resolve to talk with Jade. To make her understand that they didn't want to hurt her but had no choice but to follow their hearts.

Her resolve crumpled the next day when she saw Jade by her locker. Her scary sort-of-friend was standing in front of her scissors adorned locker and muttered darkly under her nose. Choosing cowardly to walk past her Tori walked to her own locker where she proceeded to silently berate her lack of courage.

"Vega! We have to talk." The sharp sound of Jade's voice made Tori almost jump in fright. She turned to see the slightly amused expression on her frenemy's face.

"Talk about what?" Tori asked trying to sound calm and casual. Thankfully Jade seemed to attribute her nervousness to her own startling appearance.

"Talk about the new script." She impatiently elaborated. "It's where our new storyline begins." The last words came in a hushed tone.

"You mean the storyline where your character develops a crush on mine." Tori clarified absentmindedly still preoccupied with her dilemma.

"Be quiet! I don't want anyone to know." Jade shushed her while glancing cautiously around.

"Why? Are you embarrassed that your character likes girls?" Tori was perplexed as to why Jade was so secretive about this.

"No! I'm embarrassed that my character likes yours!" Jade clarified indignantly. Tori just rolled her eyes at her. She would never understand what exactly in her makes Jade react with such distaste.

"Okay then, what do you want from me?" She asked the pale girl with quiet resignation in her voice.

"I want you to help me figure out how to pull this off." Tori could see request for help coming out of the other girl's mouth as a pulled tooth.

"You could come by my house after school if you want." She quickly agreed hoping it would put Jade in a more agreeable mood for the conversation about Beck. Not to mention that it was far less likely that Jade would kill her and bury her in her own backyard. She hoped.

"No your sister might see us." The blue eyed girl quickly dashed her hopes. "You will come to my place." Tori fought back the sudden rush of panic but made a mental note to tell as many people as she can where she was going after school.

Several hours later Tori walked up to the West's house. To her slight disappointment there was no moat with alligators surrounding it or storm cloud hanging over it. It was an ordinary house with a green lawn bathed in the warm Californian sunshine. Tori took a deep breath walked up to the door and pressed the doorbell. Jade opened the door. At least her attire didn't disappoint, she was in all black. Once inside Jade led her to the den.

"Jade, I saw the scene there isn't that much interaction between us. You ask Britt's character on a sleepover so that the head mean girl can pull a prank on her." Tori began after she put down her bag and pulled out the script. "She drags me along. You unexpectedly are super nice to me and even rescue me from the prank." She opened the script browsing over the scenes their characters shared. "Oh, look you even hug me in the end… and then sniff my hair." Tori razed her eyebrows in surprise at her host. How could she have missed the last detail? Probably by being too busy thinking about Beck.

"That's the problem Vega! I find it very hard to be nice to you and hugging you with affection is out of the question." Jade said pointing accusingly to her own script. Tori rolled her eyes at her over-dramatizing.

"Oh come on, on our play date you told me I had a beautiful voice and that I'm pretty." She pointed out giving her a confident smile.

"I did no such thing! And if you tell that to anyone I'll make you feel very sorry for a long time." Tori scooted away from Jade after seeing the fierce look her eyes were getting. The situation was thankfully defused by the arrival of a woman who Tori assumed was Jade's step-mom with light snacks.

"Alright then, imagine that I'm someone you like." Tori proposed after they finished eating. "What are you doing?" She asked after Jade didn't respond for a full minute.

"I'm trying to think of someone." The black-haired girl responded tersely. Tori was beginning to grow tired of her stubbornness.

"Didn't you have a date recently?" She had heard about it from Cat who had seen Jade with some blond guy at Karaoke Dokie last night. "How was it?" She continued after her friend confirmed.

"It wasn't terrible." Well that was as glowing assessment for a date that didn't involve horror movies that you could hope for from Jade.

"Then imagine I'm him." Jade's whole body exuded skepticism but she was willing to try. After half hour Jade managed to make the looks she was giving to Tori seem friendly and affectionate. After half hour more she began saying nice things to Tori without sounding sarcastic. In another hour she even gave Tori a hug without squeezing her uncomfortably hard. She drew the line at the hair sniffing saying that she'll do it only on the set.

"Well thanks Vega, this helped." Much to Tori's surprise she seemed to really mean it. Some instinct in her told her that she probably wouldn't get a better occasion to talk with Jade then this one.

"Jade, I have to talk to you about something important." She said after standing up and gathering her courage. Even like that it took her some time before the words could leave her mouth.

"What is it Vega and stop fidgeting." Jade seemed more curious then irritated by the other girl's odd behavior. Tori swallowed the lump that suddenly formed in her throat.

"It's about Beck. He said that he liked me. And then he kissed me."


End file.
